PATIENT RECORDS
A Going it alone
Trusts will be able to exercise far more control over the development of their IT systems now that NPfIT has been scaled back, reports Richard Mackillican
s part of a wider scaling back of the National Programme
for IT, trusts will now be able to source their own solutions to their electronic patient records needs.
“It is clear that the National Programme for IT has delivered important changes for the NHS including an infrastructure which the NHS today depends on for providing safe and responsive health care,” Christine Connelly, director general for NHS Informatics, said.
“Now the NHS is changing, we need to change the way IT supports those changes, bringing
Sep/Oct 10
decisions closer to the front line and ensuring that change is manageable and holds less risk for NHS organisations.”
The move has raised questions around whether individual trusts will actually have the funds available to allow them to upgrade their IT systems to the same standard as under the National Programme for IT.
However, it does mean that trusts now have the choice to source patient records systems from any supplier.
“Giving NHS organisations more choice of IT systems makes sense, but we also need to be aware of the problems that could
arise from a more localised approach,” said Dr Chaand Nagpaul of the BMA’s GPs committee.
“The provision and experience of IT for clinicians on the ground is likely to vary according to the level of support and resources available locally. It is important that successful national IT initiatives are not lost and that innovation is not stifled.
“There still needs to be some central accountability to ensure consistent and equitable delivery, manage local implementation, avoid wasteful duplication of effort, and support local decision-making. For example, a nationally accredited list of systems would be helpful.
“We look forward to discussing the plans when more details are available.”
This view was cautiously echoed
by Professor Iain Carpenter, co-director of the Royal College Physicians’ Health Informatics Unit, who said: “Taking the decision to align IT systems more closely with the needs of the front line is a good idea in theory. The real challenge though will rest in making sure that we get the right health informatics structures in place.
“One of the dirty secrets of the NHS is the regrettable state of medical record keeping. Earlier reports have shown that this compromises patient safety and clinical care.
“If IT in the health service is going to regain the confidence of the medical profession then more emphasis has to be placed by the DH on making sure that the new systems accurately capture the dialogue between doctor and patient. Everything else flows from getting that right.”
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