‘Archaic’ and risky patient records still used by most GP practices

Most GP practices in England are still using ‘archaic’ Lloyd George paper records despite a commitment to digitise them, HSJ has found.

NHS England’s 2019 GP contract included a commitment to do away with the so-called “Lloyd George envelopes” – named after the early 20th century prime minister who introduced a pre-NHS health insurance scheme – and digitise them by 2022-23. The NHS stopped issuing new envelopes for first-time registrations in January 2021.

But Freedom of Information requests submitted by HSJ have revealed that the famous brown paper records, some of them many decades old, are still widely used in England.

Where they are still used, staff typically use electronic records for new information, but have to find and consult the paper records occasionally, when they need older information. This is less efficient than if the records had been digitised, and storing the paper records takes up several rooms in many practices.

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Source: HSJ, 5 June 2023