§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to publish the interoperability standards for the new integrated care record services. [133920]
§ Mr. HuttonThe interoperability standards for the integrated care records service (JCRS) are part of an evolutionary process that began publicly with the output based specification (OBS), available at www.doh.gov.uk/ipu/programme/index. htm.
The OBS requires conformance to various standards, for example, Health Language 7 (H L7) Version 3 for interoperability and SNOM ED for clinical terminology. In addition, specific interchange standards, for example, those required to enable an out-patient appointment to be booked electronically, are being developed in conjunction with HL7 (www.hl7.org.uk) and the United Kingdom information technology trade representative body, Intellect (www.intellectuk.org).
JCRS is also taking account of the interoperability standards published in the electronic Government interoperability framework (www.egif.gov.uk) by the Office of the e-Envoy.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the results have been of the Gateway reviews of the NHS Integrated Care System. [134282]
§ Mr. HuttonNew and large-scale procurement projects in central Government are subject to gateway reviews. The process examines a project at critical stages to provide assurance that it can progress successfully to the next stage. The review provides project teams with advice and guidance from fellow practitioners and in order to maintain the integrity of the advice, this is held to be completely confidential by both parties. The gateway review process is not an audit.
Recommendations are made to the senior responsible officer on good practice in key areas such as programme management, risk management and involving key stakeholders. The national programme is implementing any recommendations which arise from each stage in the gateway review.
The national information technology programme is fully committed to external reviews being undertaken on a timely basis.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of maintenance of the Integrated Care Records database in(a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [134283]
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§ Mr. HuttonThe integrated care records service (ICRS) is one element of the National Programme for Information Technology in the national health service. Central funding for the National Programme for IT in the NHS is to be made available from the Spending Review 2002 as follows £370 million in 2003–04, £730 million in 2004–05 and £1.2 billion in 2005–06.
The costs for the ICRS are being calculated as part of the on-going procurement and financial management processes within the Spending Review 2002 envelope.
Maintenance costs are subject to current procurement negotiations.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of establishing the database for Integrated Care Records System; and how long he expects the inputting of the records to take. [134284]
§ Mr. HuttonThe integrated care records service (ICRS) is one element of the national programme for information technology in the national health service. Central funding for the national programme for IT in the NHS is to be made available from the Spending Review 2002 as follows—£370 million in 2003–04, £730 million in 2004–05 and £1.2 billion in 2005–06.
The costs for the ICRS are being calculated as part of the on-going procurement and financial management processes within the SR 02 envelope.
Exact costs are subject to current procurement negotiations. Due to commercial confidentiality and sensitivity, it would not be in the public interest to reveal the details of the negotiations and the potential costs.
The content of the ICRS databases will be generated initially from information already held within NHS systems. This process will be undertaken by local service providers as part of the initial implementation phase during 2004.
The ICRS is not about entering historical data but about improving the capture, use and quality of current data and future support to patient care.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library the definition of the requirements for potential vendors of the NHS Integrated Care System. [134285]
§ Mr. HuttonThe initial output based specification for the integrated care record service was published in May 2003 and a revised and updated version providing refinements to the specification was published in August 2003.
These had been previously issued to short-listed suppliers to enable them to submit proposals in the national information technology programme procurement process and made available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/ipu/programme/index.htm.
Copies of both documents will be placed in the Library, but it must be noted that this document is a dynamic set of requirements and specifications that is subject to on-going review and updating.
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§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients will be required to contribute to the cost of creating their electronic patient records on the NHS Integrated Care System. [134286]
§ Mr. HuttonPatients will not be required to contribute towards the costs of their records on the integrated care records service.
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he had with outside bodies(a) in the UK and (b) abroad about the introduction of an integrated care records system. [134357]
§ Mr. HuttonDiscussions have taken place with numerous stakeholders across Government Departments and the national health service through Royal Colleges, the NHS Confederation and other professional and representative bodies.
The recent meetings of the national clinical advisory board and the patient advisory board are major steps to improving the direct engagement and involvement of key clinical stakeholders and patient and carer representatives.
The national clinical advisory board is chaired by Professor Peter Hutton, Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. It consists of representatives from some 30 branches of the health service, including general practices, consultants, nurses, dentists, health visitors, midwives and pharmacists. It will meet every three months but will carry out work in between in sub-committees, providing the national programme with structured input from health care professionals.
The public advisory board is chaired by Marlene Winfield OBE, Head of Public Engagement for the national programme for information technology. The membership is made up of individuals drawn from groups such as the Patients Association, the Long-term Medical Conditions Alliance, Help the Aged, Mencap, Islington Health and Race Forum, Carers UK, the National Consumer Council and the Consumer's Association. It will initially meet every two months and will help to give detailed and structured input into the national programme.
Discussions are on-going with the health departments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Finally we have held discussions with other jurisdictions including but not limited to the United States of America and several European countries.