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Information for health: short version of the full strategy document

  • Document type:
    Publication
  • Author:
    Department of Health, NHS Executive
  • Published date:
    1 September 1998
  • Primary audience:
    Professionals
  • Product number:
    0953271904
  • Gateway reference:
    1998
  • Series number:
    A1105
  • Pages:
    4
  • Copyright holder:
    Crown Copyright

A £1 billion investment to put information to work for NHS patients and staff.

Text of short version

A modern and dependable National Health Service needs accurate and instantly accessible information. It is vital for improving care for patients, for improving the performance of the NHS, and the health of the nation.

A £1 billion investment to put information to work for NHS patients and staff

It would help:

  • doctors and nurses deliver better care by providing both up-to-the-minute details of the medical history of their patients and access to the latest medical research
  • the NHS to ensure it spends its £40 billion budget wisely and that all parts of the health service are working to the standards of the best
  • the public be better involved in treatment decisions by providing them with accurate information about their medical problems - and provide reliable health information so they can stay fit and well.

But this is not happening at the moment in the NHS. We lag badly behind many other organisations in the use of computers and on-line technology.

Holidays can be chosen, availability checked, and the package booked at the touch of a button in even the smallest travel agent. We can check our bank balance, order statements and new cheque books, and even pay bills electronically.

But the NHS still relies on pen, paper and post - and often several staff - to book a simple outpatient appointment. This leads to unnecessary delays, frustration for patients and staff alike, and the potential for mistakes.

There is no reason why the NHS should be second-best. Information for Health is the Government's strategy for putting this right. The NHS is to invest £1 billion over the next few years modernising how we collect, store and use information.

It will place greater emphasis on what is needed for treating patients rather than on administration as in the past. It will help meet this Government's commitment to ensure the NHS works better for patients and staff.

Over a period of time, it will ensure we provide:

  • lifelong Electronic Health Records for every person in the country
  • instant access, 24 hours a day, in every hospital and GP's surgery to patient records and best clinical practice
  • a National Electronic Library for Health to keep doctors and nurses up to date with the latest clinical research and best practice at the time they need it fast and convenient public access to information and care through on-line information services and telemedicine.

What difference will this make to patients and staff?

Information for Health will help the NHS exploit the full power of information technology to result in real improvements to healthcare.

For the public ...

  • New video and on-line technology is already being used to give patients and NHS medical staff access to specialists working at major centres of excellence. Telemedicine will increasingly eliminate the need for long, inconvenient and potentially dangerous journeys for patients.
  • Linking GPs electronically to hospitals and chemists will reduce delays and anxiety in booking hospital appointments, receiving test results and checking on the availability of medicines.
  • It will mean the end of frustrations and reduce the potential for mistakes in treating patients by making available the medical history of patients to their GPs, and other authorised NHS professionals.
  • Electronic Health Records and secure networks will improve confidence in the accuracy and confidentiality of medical records.
  • NHS Direct is already successfully providing health advice over the phone. The service will be extended to cover the whole country by the end of next year. Together with new information services, an expanded NHS Direct will help provide a reliable source of NHS approved advice on self care and other health issues.
  • Improved public information will be available on best medical practice through the new on-line services.

For NHS staff ...

  • NHS staff will share the benefits enjoyed by patients because much of the frustration felt through poor clinical records and coordination of services will be eliminated. But the new information technology will bring other benefits to the NHS.
  • It will give medical and nursing staff instant access, at their desks or at the bedside, to the most recent medical research and to treatment best practice.
  • It will give better information to determine what works and what doesn't within the NHS. And it will enable the people making decisions over our £40 billion budget to ensure all sections of the NHS are working to the standards of the best.

The Information for Health strategy will provide:

  • a National Electronic Library for Health containing accurate information on the latest medical advances, on accredited best practice guidance with particular help on important topics
  • early warning of regional variations or potential problems in clinical standards
  • better information for public health doctors, planners and managers about priorities and effective approaches to improving healthcare and health

What happens next?

The immediate priority for the NHS is to make sure that it has dealt with all the problems stemming from the Year 2000 date change - the so-called "Millennium Bug".

But as that task is completed, the NHS Executive will start implementing the Information for Health strategy by:

  • consulting with NHS professions and public representatives on the principle of a national body to advise on patient confidentiality issues and on its potential remit
  • connecting all computerised GP practices to NHSnet, the NHS' own secure information "highway", so GPs and hospitals can exchange information electronically about appointments and test results by the end of 1999
  • enabling everybody in England to contact NHS Direct, the 24 hour nurse led telephone advice line, by 2000
  • setting up working groups of clinicians, managers and information specialists in every Health Authority area to plan the local implementation of the strategy
  • setting up "beacon" sites to pioneer the development of Electronic Health Records
  • ensuring Health Authorities, Trusts and Primary Care Groups receive the right support at national, regional and local level so the NHS is able to successfully implement the strategy and acquire the best services and systems, avoiding unneccessary duplication of effort.

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