Health and Efficiency

IT to transform the NHS

Southern Programme For IT Facts and Figures

• 13million patients
• 256,000 NHS staff
• 3 Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs)
• 31 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)
• 43 Acute Trusts (including 25 Foundation Trusts)
• 18 Mental Health Trusts
• 5 Ambulance Trusts
• 1 Care Trust
• 1,938 GP practices

Fujitsu Services, NHS account’s work with the NHS connecting for health – the department for health agency responsible for delivering the national programme for IT, is set to transform every aspect of nhs activity, enhancing the way patients interact with the service.

Giving patients more choice and control over their health and care and creating a health service “designed around the patient” is at the heart of the government’s vision for the NHS in England.

Over the next ten years, state-of-the-art computer systems will be installed across the NHS. Once the work is complete, those systems will, for the first time, connect more than 110,000 doctors, 390,000 nurses and 120,000 other health professionals in England.

This will ensure that the right information is available to the right people are the right time, with all those involved in the care of a patient having secure access to up to date, accurate information for diagnosis, treatment and care.

It will also enable patients to have easier access to their own health and care information.

What is the National Programme for IT?

The National Programme for IT will procure, develop and implement modern, integrated IT infrastructure and systems for all NHS organisations in England by 2010. Key elements of this integrated approach are:

• NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS) for all England’s 50m+ patients, securely accessible by both the patient and those caring for them
• Choose and Book, an electronic booking service offering patients greater choice of hospital, clinic and more convenience in the date and time of their appointment
• Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) to capture, store and distribute digital medical images
• Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP), to make prescribing and dispensing safer and easier
• National Network for the NHS (N3), providing IT infrastructure and broadband connectivity to meet NHS needs now and into the future

How will the National Programme for IT enhance patient care?

The new way of storing and sharing information will allow patients to access information more easily when making decisions about their health and care.

Diagnosis and treatment will be safer and speedier, because carers will have the right information available to them at the right time, including X-rays and other medical images. These will be stored electronically so they can be easily made available at different locations. If required, they can also be forwarded to specialists for their advice. Electronic records are inherently more secure than paper records and patients will be able to opt-out of having some or all of their information shared electronically.

The electronic system will also record details of everyone who has accessed an individual’s NHS Care Record (NHS CRS). This is not possible with paper records.

What are the benefits?

Patients

• Patients will eventually have access to their NHS Care Record through a secure NHS gateway on the Internet. This will allow them to be more informed and involved in decisions about their own care and treatment.
• The care provider will be safer, because vital information for diagnosis and treatment (such as current medication, details of previous operations, test results or allergies) will be available wherever that care is required, even outside the patient’s home area.
• Patients will find it faster and easier to make hospital appointments at a time, date and place to suit them. They will be able to choose and book the appointment while at their GP surgery – or later via a call centre or the Internet, if they prefer to discuss it with family, carers or colleagues first.

Clinicians

• Clinicians will have ready access to move comprehensive, more up-to-date information to support diagnosis
• They will be able to make more efficient referrals, gain alerts to contra-indicated therapies and significantly achieve early detection of disease outbreaks
• The administrative burden will be significantly reduced as it will no longer be necessary to spend time chasing up referrals or missing notes.

The NHS

• The NHS Care Record Service will provide better intelligence on how the NHS works, and on the health of citizens, with anonymised information collected nationally. The numbers will be real, in real time, not just a sample from spotter practices
• The NHS will benefit from the National Programme for IT’s negotiating power. Already, savings of over £430m have been made through the process of direct negotiation with suppliers and subcontractors

The resulting transformation of the NHS will save time and money. More importantly, it will improve health and save lives.

Implementing the National Programme for IT

The National Programme for IT will be implemented by National Application Service Providers (NASPs) and Local Services Providers (LSPs). NASPs are responsible for purchasing and integrating IT systems common to all users nationally.

LSPs will deliver IT systems and services on a local level for five regions of strategic health authorities – Southern, London, North East, Eastern and North West & West Midlands.

They will supply and integrate systems to perform functions in the local setting and to interface with the national system.

How is Fujitsu Services, NHS Account helping?

Fujitsu was appointed the LSP for the Southern region in January 2004 and will introduce electronic patient records throughout the area, integrating existing electronic records where possible, and implementing new systems when appropriate.

Training will be provided to ensure the full benefits of the system are realised.

The Southern region incorporates 13m patients and some 256,000 NHS staff across 3 Strategic Health Authorities, 31 Primary Care Trusts, 43 Hospital Trusts (including 25 Foundation Trusts), 18 Mental Health Trusts, 5 Ambulance Trusts and 1,938 GP practices.

PACS

Fujitsu has also been awarded the contract to provide Picture Archiving Communications Systems (PACS) to capture, store and distribute digital medical images across the Southern region.

To-date Fujitsu has 100% gone live with PACS & RIS facilities in 38 Trusts. This includes 3 Trusts out of the Southern region.

Fujitsu delivered PACS across the whole southern region within three years, and will be providing a fully serviced solution, including technology refresh, until 2013.

What does the future hold?

In the coming years, we are going to put in place the systems that will enable you, as a patient, to go to any part of the NHS and be assured that the person treating you will know what has happened to you, what medicines you are taking and how best to treat you.

Fujitsu Services, NHS Account comprises Fujitsu as prime contractor; Cerner Corporation for the Core Clinical Application; Tata Consultancy Services for the Clinical Application Implementation and Data Migration.