A single patient record (SPR) is a single medical record about a patient containing data from multiple sources. Governments in several countries are starting to create these records, and legislate for health care providers to release copies of the data they hold a patient into these systems.
Countries in the European Union have traditionally opted for a sub-national, regional approach. For example:
Countries with small populations operate a single national record, including:
EU nation states are starting to implement their compliance with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) legislation. The approach is a system-to-system copying of data between national systems, on demand by the needs of the patient, without consolidating into a single patient record.
NHS England's 10-year plan included the requirement for a Single Patient Record. In May 2025 it released a Request for Information (RFI) notice to industry, showing NHSE's requirements.
The original stated vision for the SPR was to:
- Give patients visibility and control of their data, enabling them to read, write, share joint care plans and offer corrections to data - while also being able to manage sharing preferences and have access to an audit of who has viewed their record and for what purpose.
- Provide a single version of the truth by integrating data across settings, enabling patients, health care professionals and social care providers to work from the same record and to see key primary and secondary care NHS interactions, as well as autonomously prompt actions to occur.
- Enable the secure availability of data for third-party applications such as research and clinical trials (allowing for patient choice).
In September 2025 NHS England announced three architectures of implementation, none of which allows storage of data in a single record.
Nigeria's federal government legislated that every state must procure and maintain an SPR. Lagos is the first state to complete procurement, choosing Interswitch which partnered with Patients Know Best to deliver this.
Saudi Arabia's Council for Health Insurance and the National Health Information Center, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, launched NPHIES platform to facilitate the exchange of health information for patients. The health information exchange has two component, NPHIES Taameen (insurance) and NPHIES Sehey [health] "a distinction that is believed to meet the necessary complexities of Saudi Arabia's healthcare system, which includes both public and private sectors"
President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted an SPR as a critical component for the country during South Africa's State of the Nation Address on 6 February
