§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the introduction of electronic health records. [65187]
§ Mr. LammyOn 12 June my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, (Lord Hunt of Kingsheath) outlined a programme to deliver information technology in the national health service "Delivering the NHS Plan" based on the principles of "Information for Health". The programme states that by December 2005 we will have developed an electronic record service which will be accessible nationally for out of hours emergency reference. By December 2007 we will have expanded the records to contain more data and reference links to primary care and hospitals in order to support integrated care.