Volume 1

The Electronic patient record : sixth report of session 2006-07 / House of Commons, Health Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee.
Date:
2007
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The Electronic patient record : sixth report of session 2006-07 / House of Commons, Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    typical: General practitioners have had the highest level of computerisation with the vast majority of surgeries using IT systems both for administrative and clinical purposes. Most practices have stored some patient information electronically, and many have dispensed with paper systems altogether after scanning old paper notes into new electronic systems. The new GMS contract, introduced in 2004, consolidated the high level of IT usage in general practice by requiring payments and performance assessment to be processed electronically.’ In hospitals, the level of computerisation has varied widely but has been consistently lower than in general practice. All NHS hospitals have used basic Patient Administration Systems (PAS) for a number of years for administrative purposes such as scheduling, recording admissions and discharges, and storing patient demographic and basic diagnosis information. In some clinical areas, such as theatres and pathology, more sophisticated systems have often been used for both administrative and clinical purposes. However, the use of more complex systems capable of recording all aspects of clinical care has been extremely rare, and the overwhelming majority of patient records have been stored in often voluminous paper notes.* The lack of unifying standards and a piecemeal approach to procurement has meant that IT systems in different departments within a single hospital have often been unable to communicate with each other. Amongst community and mental health care providers, levels of IT use have been the lowest of all. Many such organisations have not used computers even for administrative purposes and have stored all patient records on paper. More complex systems have been developed in some parts of the country across clinical networks with responsibility for a particular patient group. For example, shared databases and other IT systems have been used at local level by cancer, diabetes and renal networks. 577. oy ope,