Progress made in setting up NHS care records service
Several contracts to provide the NHS care records service in England, a key strategy in the national programme for IT, were awarded during December 2003. The care records service is to hold individual electronic records
for all 50 million NHS patients. It will show the treatments and care patients
receive within the NHS (including in the acute and primary care sectors)
and social care. It will also provide access to medicines information to
clinicians at the point of prescribing and facilitate electronic prescribing.
The system is to be rolled out by 2010.
The contract to set up the system, and deliver services common to all users
nationally for 10 years, has been awarded to BT. In addition, contracts
to deliver services at a more local level, integrating where necessary
with existing services (such as pharmacy computer systems) and the national
system have been awarded in four of the five NHS “IT regions” (London
[BT], north eastern [Accenture], north west and west midlands [CSC], and
eastern [Accenture]). The contract for the southern region was still to
be awarded at the time of going to press.
Will Wilson, principal pharmacist for information and supply at Addenbrookes
Hospital, Cambridge, told Hospital Pharmacist that the implementation of
the care records service will empower pharmacists to pursue medicines management
work, but will require their services to become more patient-focused. There
will need to be a move away from the view that pharmacists are there just
to police prescribing, he explained, because
information that pharmacists currently hold will, in the future, be available
to other health care staff electronically on demand. “This presents
significant challenges for hospital pharmacists”, Mr Wilson added.
Further information on the NHS national programme for IT is available here |
Hospital Pharmacist