NHS Coordinate My Care

Coordinate My Care (CMC) is a clinical service that holds patient care plans. These are electronic forms completed by a patient with their healthcare professional. It records the patient’s wishes and preferences for their treatment and care to allow them to live well in their last stages of life. The benefit for people who consent to have a CMC record is that they no longer need to repeat sensitive and sometimes difficult information every time, and the existence of a clear care plan means their care is coordinated and their wishes known. Patients’ records are confidential. Only professionals involved in the care and issued with a secure user name and password will be able to see details on Coordinate My Care. The record will be accessed when the patient needs help or advice. Coordinate My Care has already addressed the need for better communication and coordination of a patient’s wishes, clarity around patient consent, personalised care plans, and more training for clinicians working with patients with life-limiting illnesses. in England, the majority of people die in hospital. However, when Coordinate My Care is used to create a care plan and establish their preferences, only 20% die in hospital. Significant numbers of patients can fulfil their wish to die at home, in a care home or in a hospice. Coordinate My Care is an NHS service currently available only in London, and hosted by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Funding has been secured from NHS England (London Region) and the three London Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs). This will support both further development of Coordinate My Care’s IT system so it can ‘talk’ to all other GP-focused and other IT systems in the country and also for ongoing teaching and training of clinical staff how to communicate and create care plans.