‘Impressive milestones in the implementation of the National Programme for IT’ have been highlighted as one of the major achievements in the NHS in the first quarter of 2007/08, in a report published today.
The IT programme is one of a number of key issues pulled out and focused upon to demonstrate good progress made in 2007/08 to date, helping to boost good financial management by trusts.
The NHS quarterly report says: “The first quarter of this year also saw some impressive milestones in the implementation of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). NPfIT continues to make significant progress in providing robust and speedy infrastructure and systems to enable the NHS locally to be ever more responsive to providing better care for the patients they serve.”
Milestones reached in the first quarter of the financial year are:
• 100% of Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) installations were completed in the South and London – and a total of 81,733,354 images were stored during this period
• Between April and June, eight acute Patient Administration Systems were deployed in hospitals across the country, while over one million appointments were made using Choose and Book
• The Electronic Prescription Service continued to grow in popularity, with 9,145,435 prescriptions transmitted using the system in the quarter – equating to 11% of daily prescriptions.
The report also says that the decentralisation process for the NPfIT local ownership programme (NLOP) has now begun and will help to further progress in the programme.
Elsewhere in the report, delivery towards key targets on waiting times, tackling infection and health inequalities are demonstrated.
Figures for the first quarter are also published, showing that subject to fluctuation over the rest of the financial year, the NHS is forecasting a surplus of £983m at the end of 2007/08 compared to the end of year position of £510m surplus in 2006/07 and a deficit of £547m in 2005/06.
Health secretary Alan Johnson said: “Today’s financial forecasts show the NHS is now on a sustainable financial footing. The NHS is becoming more efficient [at] freeing up resources to be spent on the major concerns of patients like tackling hospital bugs and improving access to local doctors. These figures show that any changes to NHS services are driven by the need to save lives, not money.”
David Nicholson, chief executive of the NHS, added: “Local NHS staff have successfully turned the position around from one of overall deficit to a forecast surplus, created through increased efficiency and productivity and through greater financial discipline and rigour in the system.
“As I set out in my annual report, an organisation the size of the NHS should always plan for a surplus. This is good management, but more importantly it’s good for patients. A surplus allows flexibility and headroom for organisations to plan for the long term, invest in new services before closing existing ones, and respond to unexpected in-year pressures such as new drugs.”
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