HSE Shared Care Record

The Shared Care Record is a secure clinical system that gives authorised healthcare staff read-only access to key patient information from various sources.

These include:

• hospitals
• primary care
• community services
• eventually, voluntary and private healthcare providers

It aims to improve clinical decision-making by ensuring staff have access to trusted information at the point of care.

The Shared Care Record reduces the time spent searching for records or repeating tests. It also shows more about a person's overall health. This helps staff plan and deliver safer and more efficient care.

How it was developed

Following HSE board approval in early 2025, work began on designing the Shared Care Record and planning its implementation. This included building a secure digital platform that brought together seven datasets from different clinical systems for it's release. This work required collaboration across technical, project and clinical teams.

The first release took place in November 2025 to staff in Integrated Healthcare Area Waterford Wexford (IHA WW). They tested the system and provided feedback as it became part of their daily clinical workflows.

Now, in its second release, the Shared Care Record provides authorised healthcare staff access to:

• Primary Care Reimbursement Scheme medications
• GP requested laboratory results
• GP requested radiology results
• GP general referrals
• chronic disease management details
• discharge summaries
• statutory hospital appointments and inpatient and day case waiting lists
• Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) procedure details
• National Immunisation Office vaccination records

Who can access the Shared Care Record

It is available to authorised and trained healthcare staff. All access requests follow HSE policy and data protection laws, in line with the NSCR rollout plan.

At the moment, only HSE staff on the HEALTHIRL network who have completed a one-hour e-learning training module can access the system. This module is delivered on HSeLanD.

Why the Shared Care Record matters

As the system grows, it will bring benefits to patients, staff and the wider health service. Important metrics are being tracked to understand the impact the Shared Care Record will have over time.

These benefits include:

• improving time released to care, allowing healthcare staff to spend more time on higher-value tasks or for self-care
• reducing administrative burden, streamlining workflows and minimising time spent on lower-value tasks
• improving clinical decision-making to support the delivery of safe patient care,
• better management of patients with complex needs
• improve patient and clinician experience
• helping hospitals to keep running if their systems aren't working, so patients still get care
• making sure patients get good care even when doctors can't access their usual systems

Overall, the Shared Care Record aims to make healthcare delivery safer, more efficient and more patient-centred, while supporting staff and strengthening system resilience.

We make sure that all patient data is secure.

Shared Care Record: Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

What’s next for the Shared Care Record

The system is continuously being developed and improved based on user feedback. The information available on the system will increase over time as more healthcare data is digitised.

There are 2 further data releases planned for 2026, which will expand access to new targeted information. This is subject to agreement and may change.

They include:

• statutory and voluntary hospital outpatient waiting lists
• voluntary and community inpatient, day-case waiting lists, as well as appointments
• GP specialist referrals
• telehealth appointments
• self-declared patient information from the HSE Health app
• community appointments and waiting lists
• additional laboratory results
• outpatient letters
• T-Pro
• BreastCheck appointments
• GP-sourced medication information
• details of attendance, discharges and transfers as well as emergency department events
• further datasets subject to agreements

It is important to note that the Shared Care Record is not an electronic health record. It is designed as a support tool to aid clinical decision-making. It should always be used alongside professional clinical judgment.

How is it being rolled out

Staff members across IHA WW currently have access to the Shared Care Record. Nationwide rollout, together with regional teams, began in early summer 2026.

We are seeking expressions of interest from additional services or user groups who could benefit. If you wish to nominate your service, please email our team. We will connect you with your relevant regional office.

The Shared Care Record will continue to evolve based on user feedback, ensuring it meets the needs of patients, carers and healthcare staff across the country

More information and training supports are available on HSeLanD - Shared Care Record Discovery

Contact

For more information, email our team.

Email: nscr@hse.ie