Ambulance clinicians are being empowered to provide more informed and joined up care while assessing patients by having greater access to real-time patient care records.

Following a successful trial in Paddock Wood, Kent, all frontline clinicians across South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) will now be able to access GP Connect, a national system which allows authorised clinicians to view information directly from a patient’s GP record including current medications, allergies and other key patient information.

Meanwhile, frontline ambulance clinicians working out of Ashford in Kent, will also pilot the use of the Kent and Medway Care Record (KMCR) – a shared care record that brings together patient information, including admission and discharge summaries from multiple health and social care providers across Kent and Medway.

Clinicians will now be able to access the systems via the Trust’s electronic patient care record system, rather than having to call clinicians in the Trust’s emergency operations centres or clinical hubs. Direct access to the systems will enhance the quality and safety of patient care, streamline decision-making processes and ensure patients receive the right care, first time.

Interaction with the Trust’s ePCR record aims to reduce manual entry time and errors. More complete information is expected to lead to more informed decisions and reduce the number of avoidable hospital journeys.

The introduction of the systems forms part of SECAmb’s overall strategy to design a future model with the appropriate service which will be compatible with the Trust’s overall shared care records system, and which will integrate fully to the National Care Record System (NCRS) as a single access point for clinicians.

The GP Connect pilot in Paddock Wood received positive feedback from clinicians who, since June 2025, have successfully linked in with the system to support their on-scene decisions on more than 15,000 occasions. The system proved most popular for ambulance clinicians attending calls related to falls or chest pain.

Chief Paramedic Officer at SECAmb, Jaqui Lindridge said: “Greater and more streamlined access to this often-vital information means our clinicians can make more informed decisions for the benefit of their patients.

“We received extremely positive feedback from clinicians involved in the pilot that the oversight was ensuring their interactions with patients were more efficient and safer.

“This important development offers an additional tool for our ambulance clinicians to support timely, evidence-based care, ultimately leading to safer outcomes for patients and more efficient use of our resources and those of our local NHS system partners.”

Shared Care Records Clinical Manager, Michael Whitcombe added: “As clinicians, timely access to accurate patient information is critical. Having GP Connect and the Kent and Medway Care Record at our fingertips allows ambulance clinicians to make confident, informed decisions at the patient’s side. This not only enhances patient safety but also ensures our care is joined up across services. It means we can spend more time focusing on patients, rather than chasing information.”