NHS leaders welcome promise to help trusts roll out electronic patient records

Responding to the health secretary's announcement on further digital commitments for the NHS, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:  

“Healthcare leaders will welcome this commitment and additional promise of funding to help all trusts roll out electronic patient records building on some of the great innovation we have seen over the past two years.

“However, to really embed the wider benefits of shared patient records across the NHS our members will also need clear, long-term capital and revenue investment coupled with a fully funded long term workforce plan that allows organisations to properly plan and invest in the best patient technology over the next few years. To achieve the ambition of truly joined-up care, these records should be accessible across wider systems, including by relevant non-NHS partners involved in delivering care.

“We also need to be clear about the wide-ranging impacts of digitisation of care. The pandemic has shown again that while better access to digital information, technology and data is great for many patients, it also risks leaving some behind. If the Government is serious about levelling up, then it must also plan and provide solutions that counter this.”