Achieving Efficiency Improvements in the Health Sector through the Implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (16th February 2010)This report presents an analysis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries efforts to implement information and communication technologies (ICTs) in health care systems. It provides advice on the range of policy options, conditions and practices that policy makers can adapt to their own national circumstances to accelerate adoption and effective use of these technologies.
Report
Independent Review of NHS and Social Care IT (August 2009)This review was commissioned by the Conservative Party and chaired by Dr Glyn Hayes. The report finds that the National Programme for IT should not be abandons but adapted to meet the needs of patients.
Report Conservative Party response to the Independent Review of NHS IT (10th August 2009)The key proposals of the Conservatives response are:
- Dismantle the central NHS IT infrastructure and use local systems instead
- Halt and renegotiate the contracts for IT service providers
- Stop imposing central IT systems on the NHS
- Encourage the use of open source across the public sector
Response Response to Conservative Party's independent review (10th August 2009)A Department of Health spokesperson has said, in response to the independent review of NHS IT, "The report highlights nothing new - we already know that quality healthcare can be delivered through the effective use of IT."
Response
Reviews of the National Programme for IT (June 2009)Following a Freedom of Information request, the Office of Government Commerce and Department of Health have decided to make public a number of Reviews of the National Programme for IT.
The Department of Health's Director General for Informatics has recently made clear that if significant progress is not achieved by the end of November 2009, a new approach may need to be adopted.
Reviews
The National Programme for IT in the NHS: Progress since 2006 (16th May 2008)Delivering the National Programme for IT in the NHS is proving to be an enormous challenge. All elements of the Programme are advancing and some are complete, but the original timescales for the electronic Care Records Service, one of the central elements of the Programme, turned out to be unachievable, raised unrealistic expectations and put confidence in the Programme at risk. Today’s progress report on the Programme by the National Audit Office concludes that the original vision remains intact and still appears feasible. However, it is likely to take until 2014-15 before every NHS Trust in England has fully deployed the care records systems, four years later than planned.
Click here for Vol. I
Click here for Vol. II
Click here for Executive Summary
Legally eHealth - Putting eHealth in its European Legal Context (April 2008)
This report seeks to examine some keys of the legal questions raised by the adoption of eHealth tools in healthcare. It looks at how EU legislation on data protection, product and services liability, and trade and competition law applies.
Click here for the Report
Joint Guidance on Protecting Electronic Patient Information (April 2008)
The British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) have produced joint guidance to advise health care staff on how to protect electronic patient information. The guidance outlines the responsibilities of both NHS Staff and NHS Organisations in protecting patient information.
Click here for the Guidance
