The secretary of state for health and social care has said he wants 90% of NHS trusts to have an electronic patient record (EPR) in place by December 2023.
Speaking at an event, which was livestreamed over Twitter, Sajid Javid listed his four priorities for transformation in healthcare, including levelling up digital provision.
He referenced recent statistics which revealed one in five NHS trusts do not have an EPR and laid out his plans to improve this.
“EPRs are the essential prerequisite for a modern, digital NHS, without them we cannot achieve the full potential for reform,” he said.
“So, I want to accelerate the roll out of these vital records with a new approach that we hit 90% coverage by December 2023. By then I also want to make sure that the remaining 10% are in the process of implementing them.”
The health secretary also referenced digital care records and said he “wants all social care providers to adopt a digital record for social care”. A recent government white paper committed to ensuring that at least 80% of social care providers have a digitised care record in place by March 2024.
Javid also set targets for the NHS App and said he wanted even more people to be using it.
“This app is now an essential part of life for so many and 24 million people, that is over half of adults in England are now carrying it around in their pocket,” he said.
“But we need to keep this momentum going and so by March 2024 I want this to be 75% of all adults in England.
“To get there we need to show that the app is for life and not just for Covid.”
Another topic spoken by Javid at HSJ’s Digital Transformation Summit was the Data Strategy which sets out how health and care data has been used across the sector.
While the strategy has been published in draft form, the health secretary told the audience that the final version will be “published in Spring”.
Another document which is yet to be released is the Goldacre Review. Led by Dr Ben Goldacre, the review will look into how health data for research and analysis can be used efficiently and safely.
Javid had said he recently received the report and it will be published “soon”.
Closing his address, Javid also announced that a “comprehensive digital health plan” will be published in Spring.
“I want to end by saying I don’t see digital transformation as a flash in the pan, a quick fix in a time of crisis,” he said.
“It is fundamental to the mission to clear the Covid backlog and to the long-term health and happiness of this country. It matters more now than it did when this pandemic began.
“This is not the time to slow down and look in the rear-view mirror, it is the time to accelerate.
“So, I am delighted to announce that in the Spring we will be publishing, for the first time, a comprehensive digital health plan, the next chapter of the story of digital transformation.
“It shows how we will be driving this digital change across all these areas I talked about today and building on the varied lessons from the pandemic.”
3 March 2022 @ 15:10
Well hopefully all old infrastructure technology gets ripped out and more modern technology is funded so that there isn’t the argument by the EPR supplier that “our system is not compatible with your infrastructure”. But then we have so many joined up practices, systems so why not have multiple suppliers of EPR as that’s got to be cost effective???? Might want to overhaul your patient monitoring too as this is key feeding into EPR, again is this within the forcasted budget this will all cost? Probably not. Dont worry Sajid, your predecessor wanted it all joined up and running by 2018, then 2019 then 2021 so im sure once you have been shuffled out of your current position then the next health secretary can set another target and we can get no further once more.
28 February 2022 @ 15:06
An EPR supporting HIMMS level 5 as a minimum I think but can’t guarantee as not seen it anywhere. But what someone told me.
25 February 2022 @ 11:59
20 years too late , but thats the gift of having a socialized health care system.
Unlike US where 2000 hospitals have the most advanced EPR , UK the laggard continues to talk about implementing in some years. Most EPRs most trusts have are so low quality its laughable, and did I even mention the infrastructure quality.
Good luck I guess
25 February 2022 @ 10:57
Hopefully this is not an invitation for suppliers to bung in basic EPR’s in less than 12 months. A comprehensive EPR takes an absolute minimum of 12 months and if told otherwise, that supplier should be shown the door.
25 February 2022 @ 10:46
Why am I thinking of NPfIT/CfH?
& every SoS for Health since at least 2002?
I’ll be *very* interested to see how Javid plans to implement this – & whose heads will roll in the Trusts – & elsewhere in the NHS – when, inevitably, EPRs – however he defines them – are *not* installed by 2023!
How about serious consideration, allowing Trusts & others to share experiences, involving front line users in planning – & providing cyber protection (& up to date equipment) as a start?
“Fine words butter no parsnips”!
24 February 2022 @ 19:58
Does he indeed …