The eRedbook – Exemplar blueprint for a Digital Government App

Developed by SiteKit, a Scottish digital solutions provider, the eRedbook is the UK’s digital personal child health record, an app that gives you access to your child’s health records, and ability to track their growth and development.

The eRedbook is connected to the NHS NEMS (National Event Management Service) as standard in England, meaning parents can receive screening data and, where available, immunisation data direct from the national NHS data source. Trusts and/or regions may additionally choose to connect their local data sources to eRedbook providing parents with:

• Immunisation data where it is not flowing through the NEMS.
• Health visiting data such as heights, weights, and health reviews.

Parents can share eRedbook records with professionals during phone or video meetings meaning they can see what the parent can see, and healthcare professionals can make a record of the conversation using eRedbook Pro and send it to the child’s eRedbook, replacing the notes facility from the paper red book and ensuring the next professional can see what the parent was told.

NHS Login

NHS Login makes it easier and quicker for users to securely access digital health and care services.

Using NHS Login with eRedbook is a good choice for pregnant mothers as it means their identity can be verified easily and health records can be sent directly to their eRedbook. The eRedbook is the first application apart from the NHS app to use NHS Login.

Digital Government Exemplar

The eRedbook is an exemplar case study for Digital Government ambitions, digitizing a previously paper-based record that would often be lost, despite being life critical for citizens.

While designed for the specific scenario of childrens healthcare records, the eRedbook offers a blueprint that could be generalized to any and all Digital Government services, with the key attributes being:

• It’s entirely user-centric – Rather than centralized IT systems it employs a decentralized app approach. Users are empowered to own and control their own records.
• Identity-enabled data sharing – This tackles the primary issue that still impedes digital healthcare today: Sharing information across the many different organizations involved in care delivery. Parents can share eRedbook records with professionals and vice versa professionals can send updates to the eRedbook. This integration is achieved via Identity-centric methods, via the NHS Login to verify their Identity and link to their records.
• Inform and educate – It further empowers citizens through knowledge. The eRedbook posts age-appropriate guidance that is clinically validated by the NHS to help you keep you and your baby healthy, and in some areas you’ll also get information from local health organisations about local services that are there to support you.

Naturally this model could be applied to all Healthcare records and indeed, all Digital Government services. The user-centric app and Identity-enabled architecture offers a general purpose blueprint that could be reused for multiple different scenarios.