Sharing patient data across NHS providers in England could save £20 million a year and cut A&E attendances by 20,000 annually, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said ahead of the second reading of the NHS Modernisation Bill in the House of Commons on Monday.
The projected reduction in emergency visits is expected to come from two main areas: 10,000 fewer attendances through better management of frail patients via virtual care, and another 10,000 fewer visits as a result of fewer misdiagnoses. The DHSC estimates the changes could also save doctors around 500,000 hours each year by reducing time spent searching for or re-entering patient information.
The £20m savings would arise from cuts in medication errors, adverse drug reactions and duplicate prescribing. A broader impact assessment suggests the single patient record (SPR) system could save £110 million over a decade, with the largest contributions coming from reduced reporting costs for patient safety incidents (£54m), fewer duplicated tests and procedures (£22m), and time saved accessing records (£11m).
How the single patient record will work
The bill mandates the creation of a single patient record for every person receiving health and social care in England. The system requires GPs and hospitals to securely share data, so that any medical professional treating a patient can see their full medical history without the patient having to repeat their story. The SPR sits at the heart of the government’s 10-year health plan and is part of a wider £10 billion digitisation of the health service.
Health Secretary James Murray, who was appointed after his predecessor Wes Streeting resigned shortly before the bill was introduced on May 14, said the reform would end the “distressing” cycle of patients having to recount their medical history repeatedly. Murray noted he was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition in his twenties and is now symptom-free, but understands the effort needed to keep different parts of the NHS joined up.
The SPR will also include social care records and data from private healthcare providers working on behalf of the NHS. Community services will be joined up, helping people manage long-term conditions such as heart failure and mental health issues.
Safeguards and patient control
The government says patients will have more control over their data, with clear safeguards and audit trails baked into the system. Anyone will be able to see who has accessed their SPR, and existing clinical protocols will govern what information is shared into the record. The system is designed with “security and privacy by design,” according to the DHSC.
At present, GPs are the data controllers for their patients’ records and can share them with third parties for research purposes. Under the new system, it is likely the DHSC will also become a data controller for GP records when they are shared into the SPR. The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for GPs to retain control, warning that taking data away from family doctors would damage trust and risk confidentiality. The BMA is also seeking clarity on who will be granted access, for what purposes the data will be used, and whether private companies might be contracted to operate the system. The union is advocating for patient-facing audit trails through the NHS App so people can see exactly who has viewed their medical data and why.
The BMA’s GP committee has questioned the necessity of building an entirely new system, noting that secondary care providers already have mechanisms to view live GP records. They have called for guaranteed security of data flows.
Wider reforms in the bill
Beyond the SPR, the NHS Modernisation Bill abolishes NHS England, transferring its functions to the DHSC and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). The move is intended to cut layers of bureaucracy and centralise power within the DHSC. The bill also introduces targeted measures to devolve decision-making to a local level through ICBs and provider organisations.
The legislation will give effect to several recommendations from the Dash Review, a patient safety inquiry led by Dr Penny Dash that estimated poor management alone costs the NHS over £5 billion a year. The bill provides for transferring the functions of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), streamlining patient safety organisations. It also abolishes Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch, with their roles potentially absorbed by ICBs and local authorities — a move that has raised concerns about weakening the independent patient voice. The bill instead proposes a new Patient Experience Directorate within the DHSC to ensure patient views shape national decisions.
NHS Online and implementation timeline
Maternity and frailty care are expected to be among the first services to benefit from the SPR from 2027. That same year, the government plans to launch NHS Online, a virtual hospital model that will provide planned specialist care through the NHS App. NHS Online aims to deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years, offering triage and video consultations. The NHS App, which already has around 41 million registered users — with over 15 million logging in during March 2026 — is being expanded to allow patients to manage hospital appointments, referrals and waiting lists.
BMA and other stakeholder concerns
The British Medical Association has been the most vocal critic of the data governance arrangements. The BMA’s GP committee has warned that if the DHSC takes control of GP data, it could undermine the trust patients place in their family doctors. The King’s Fund has described the bill as “genuinely transformative” but noted risks from centralisation of power in Whitehall and the weakening of the independent patient voice through the abolition of Healthwatch. The think tank also expressed concern that the bill focuses on structural changes rather than patient outcomes and prevention.
Former health secretary Wes Streeting, the primary architect of the legislation, is expected to tell the Commons on Monday that continued improvements in NHS performance require reform, not just more money. “Investment matters, but we’re combining investment with reform: embracing technology, cutting bureaucracy, improving productivity and changing how care is delivered,” he is expected to say.
