Dr. Avril Kennan:

There are two related elements that we need to see implemented. The first is a unique health identifier, and sometimes it is called an individual health identifier. I mean everybody's unique number. We might persuade the public to wear a bracelet, but almost everyone has a phone or wallet and the number could be present there. It would mean that if a person were unconscious, his or her health data could be found easily. Then, critically, all that data could be linked to a national electronic health record rather than, as we have now, an electronic health record that is just associated with one health service. We need a national one where all of a person's important information can be found no matter where one ends up in hospital.