Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR)
The Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR) is a computer system that health and social care staff can use to get information about your medical history. When treating or looking after you in hospital, they’ll need to know about any allergies, long term health conditions or medicine you take.
Information included in NIECR
Your health and social care information is needed to make sure you get the best care.
The NIECR has information from existing electronic record systems from hospitals and clinics throughout Northern Ireland, as well as some information which is recorded directly in the system, where this is helpful to your care.
This information includes:
- lab tests
- radiology results including x-rays
- referrals
- investigation requests
- appointments
- encounter and discharge letters from various HSC systems
Emergency Care Summary Record
Healthcare staff treating you may look at your Emergency Care Summary Record.
To improve patient safety and care, the record has details about your allergies and medications which medical staff can check on the Northern Ireland Electronic Care Record (NIECR).
Your Emergency Care Summary Record only includes:
- your name, date of birth and gender
- address and telephone number
- current medication and any known allergies
Your detailed medical notes aren't included in this record.
Accessing records
Only health and social care (HSC) staff treating you can access the NIECR for your Emergency Care Summary Record. An audit trail will check this.
They'll ask for your permission first.
This information will allow the doctor or nurse treating you to give you the best possible care.
The NIECR is only accessible on HSC's secure network.
If you don't want information about your allergies or medications made available to NIECR through the Emergency Care Summary Record, you should tell your GP practice.
Key Information Summary Record
If you have a long term health condition your GP will decide if you should have a Key Information Summary record (KIS) completed.
Health Care staff treating you in Northern Ireland will then be able to consult your KIS for details about your health, including relevant medical history and any wishes you may have about your treatment, including end of life care.
Information about a patient
Your KIS record will include:
- relevant medical history, including any long term conditions
- agencies involved with you
- list of care plans or self-management plans
- your preferred treatment arrangements
- resuscitation status
- Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT) in place
Accessing your KIS
Your Key Information Summary record will be held at your GP Practice and will only be shared with other Health Care professionals involved in your care, if you agree to this.
Your GP will ask for your consent for your Key Information Summary to be shared in NIECR.
How your information is kept safe
HSC staff have both a legal and an ethical duty to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.
Regular checks are made on who has looked at your electronic personal information.
The NIECR can only be accessed over the HSC secure network and patient data can be accessed only by the HSC staff who need to see it to support your care.
How HSC can use NIECR
The NIECR allows doctors to check your radiology and test results on computer, as soon as they are available, so your treatment can start sooner.
If your GP refers you to a hospital, information about your health can be sent to, and be triaged by, your hospital doctor in electronic form rather by post.
If you have a long term condition, such as diabetes, this information will be available in the NIECR, so that the professionals looking after you will be able to see and update your record, making sure the latest information is available to those involved in your care.
The Emergency Care Summary is already in use for urgent care and includes details of your medicine and allergies from your GP. This will now be in the NIECR and available to staff involved in your care, such as outpatient clinics.
Letters about you sent to your GP from hospital will be included in the NIECR. This will help inform staff looking after you about your care.
Seeing your information
You have a right under data protection legislation to get a copy of information held about you.
If you want to see the information held about you, or ask about how it is used, the first step would be an informal approach to your GP or other HSC professional that you may be seeing.
To formally request access to your NIECR, or any health and care record (a Subject Access Request) you need to write or speak to your GP Practice or the Health and Social Care Trust where you are receiving or have received care.
In most cases, the deadline for response will be one calendar month, although this can be extended to three months if a request is deemed ‘complex’.
NIECR privacy notice
The NIECR privacy notice, which gives information about how your personal information is used, can be viewed at: