Telemedicine (Hansard, 24 February 1998)

§ 1. Mrs. Butler
What proposals he has to promote the benefits of telemedicine in the NHS. [29313]

§ The Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Frank Dobson)
Telemedicine means harnessing the latest in information technology so as to benefit patients. X-rays and scans can be examined by specialists hundreds of miles away from the patient. Hospitals can send test results to general practitioners and GPs can send patient information to specialists. All this is to provide even higher quality treatment for patients. That is why we are developing telemedicine.

§ Madam Speaker
Is the Secretary of State taking Question 15 with Question 1?

§ Mr. Dobson
I understood, Madam Speaker, that Question 15 had been withdrawn.

§ Madam Speaker
No. The hon. Member for Burnley (Mr. Pike) is in his place. We can take the two questions together.

§ Mr. Dobson
In that case, with the permission of the House, I should like to take Question 15 with Question 1.

§ Madam Speaker
My pleasure.

§ Mr. Pike
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proposals he has to promote the benefits of telemedicine in the NHS.

§ Mrs. Butler
Does my right hon. Friend agree that, for a truly modern and dependable health service, we should make better use of information technology? For instance, 156 would it not be a good idea for general practitioners to have such technology at their fingertips so that patients could then and there be booked into hospital out-patient appointments? Will my right hon. Friend consider such a scheme?

§ Mr. Dobson
That is certainly something that we aim for. We think that a great deal of people's frustration with the health service is having to go to their general practitioners and then having to wait for an out-patient's appointment to be made. By using information technology, it should in future be possible for people to have an appointment made there and then at the GP's premises. If people then go to an out-patient department, an in-patient appointment could be made in the same way.

§ Mr. Pike
I can assure my right hon. Friend that I had no intention of withdrawing Question 15.
I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said. Will not information technology be crucial in the 21st century in giving us a modern and efficient national health service, to which the Government are committed, and that it will play an integral part in developing that process as we go forward?

§ Mr. Dobson
That is indeed the case. Information technology in the health service is unsatisfactory at present and needs substantially to be improved. I can say from experience within my constituency at the national hospital for neurology and neurosurgery that, if a patient has something wrong with his brain, the authorities flash the scan over to Paris where a professor, who is the world's expert, can examine the scan at the same time as the staff at Queen square, WC1. That is immensely to the benefit of patients, and we want that sort of idea to spread.

§ Mr. Ian Taylor
Excited as I am by information technology, I am sure that the Secretary of State will recognise that the key feature is not the technology but what it can do. Will the right hon. Gentleman continue to ensure that technology is used to the fullest extent to devolve the health service to small general practitioner practices in rural areas and, ultimately, even to the home, so that people may get a fairly instant reaction to injuries that they have sustained? The beauty of the internet, combined with the NHS network, is that we can obtain access to expert information rapidly. That can transform the rather bureaucratic and centre-driven aspects of the national health service.

§ Mr. Dobson
The hon. Gentleman has made a good series of points, which I take on board. We are to introduce NHS direct, and we are running pilot schemes from 1 April. We intend to have a scheme covering the entire country. People will be able to ring in to talk about their condition and receive advice from a nurse-organised help line. We believe that that will be effective and popular.

§ Mr. Ian Bruce
The right hon. Gentleman will know that the year 2000 problems that his Department is tackling will take up virtually the whole of his IT budget. He has set out in the White Paper details of NHS direct and the other schemes about which he has just told the House, which are all desirable and which the Opposition strongly support. However, will he look carefully at the 157 resources available for information technology within the NHS and talk urgently to the Treasury about additional funds, which will be necessary to do all the things that he wants to do and the whole House wants him to do?

§ Mr. Dobson
We hope that, over a period of time, the national health service will get all the resources that it needs to do its job properly, including resources for information technology. The present state of information technology in the NHS is deplorable and it will take a long time and a lot of money to put right.