Javid sets new target for trust digitisation

Electronic patient record (EPR) systems must be implemented in at least 90% of NHS trusts by the end of next year, the health secretary has announced at HSJ’s Digital Transformation Summit.

Speaking at the event with digital healthcare leaders in Birmingham, Mr Javid said an estimated one in five trusts are currently without EPR systems implemented. He said: “We have seen some brilliant progress {on digital transformation] but it’s not always been consistent across the board.”

He said: “We must see these disparities as just as unjust as disparities in access to education and employment.”

And added: “Electronic patient records are the essential prerequisite for a modern, digital NHS."

Mr Javid said 40% of social care providers were grappling with entirely paper based records, and he also wanted them to all adopt electronic records. 

He also outlined the intended future of the NHS App, and the government’s ambition for this to be used by 75 per cent of adults in England by March 2024. Currently it is just over half of all adults.

Mr Javid said he wanted the app to be the “future front door for interaction with the NHS”, and will be used by patients to directly communicate with their healthcare providers, to receive personalised health advice and to access test results.

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Source: HSJ, 24 February 2022