IT support key to NHS innovation and reform

IT support for staff and patients is recognised in the NHS chief executive’s latest report as a key element of the continuing growth, reform and improvement of the service.

In the report, published this week, chief executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, says: “The experience of the last five years shows how important it is to innovate and to reform the system. New services, new ideas new ways of working – consistently comparing services with international best practices – are bringing improvements.”

The report includes a section on NHS Connecting for Health, the agency delivering the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). It says: “The foundations have been laid, with the organisational and commercial infrastructure established to deploy the systems the NHS needs to deliver modern effective healthcare to patients.

“This will be achieved in carefully managed stages: major rollout of both national and local systems is well underway.”

“Implementation activity continues to gather momentum. The pace and scale of deployment of new services and systems is accelerating rapidly.”

The report lists NPfIT progress as including:

• Over 44,000 bookings on Choose and Book.

• One picture archiving and communications system (PACS) going live every week.

• 154,000 users sending 30,000 e-mails a day on the national e-mail and directory service for NHS staff.

• 98% of GP practices connected to the New National Network (N3) and over 12,000 connections installed in total.

• Over 150,000 prescription messages on the new Electronic Prescribing Service.

• The NHS Care Record Service (NCRS), a live, secure interactive patient record service accessible 24 hours a day by registered health professionals. Over 150,000 users with smartcard access.

E-Health Insider asked the Department of Health for clarification on the live service currently offered on the NCRS as previous briefings have suggested that the first records are due to be tested on the service in late summer next year. No response was received at the time of publication.

Despite Sir Nigel’s high profiling of IT achievements, a survey of the NHS’ local leaders in acute trusts demonstrates lowered confidence in the IT modernisation programme. Health Service Journal’s bi-monthly barometer of acute trust chief executives’ opinion shows that a September confidence rating of 5.31 (out of 10) in the programme has fallen to 4.32.