§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the length of time required to produce a service-strength product of Read Codes Version 3; and if he will make a statement. [22404]
§ Mr. MilburnThe release of Read Codes Version 3 planned for March 1998 will contain all codes and terms from earlier Read Versions. This is the service strength product, which will enable Read Codes Version 3 to be used in both the Acute and General Practice sectors.
§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of(a) NHS sites participating in the Read Codes Version 3 partnership programme, (b) NHS sites which have ceased participation in the programme, (c) non-partnership NHS sites currently using Version 3 and (d) non-partnership NHS sites which have ceased to use Version 3; and, for categories (a) and (c), to what extent Version 3 is in use on those sites. [22407]
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§ Mr. MilburnTo avoid being overwhelmed by inquiries from other hospitals, hospitals participating in the partnership programme have asked that their names should not be placed in the public domain. Accordingly, we shall provide a personal response to the hon. Member dealing with his first two points.
The information to answer the remaining points is not held centrally.
§ Mr. Rhodri MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list each evaluation(a) conducted or (b) commissioned by his Department into the efficacy of the Read Codes Version 3 coding system, stating the date and author or body responsible for each one; and if he will place the evaluation reports in the Library. [22408]
§ Mr. MilburnThe Read Codes Version 3 partnership programme started in mid 1995 and was designed to identify, from its operational use, what additional terms might need to be added to Version 3, such as those describing new clinical practices and procedures. Evaluation of the benefits from using Read Codes is part of this programme, which will finish in March 1998. No further evaluations are planned.
Within the partnership programme, one of the main sites for evaluating Version 3 of the Read Codes is the Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust. Two draft reports on its use of Read Codes Version 3 for clinical coding purposes have been published recently. One is an internal report produced by the trust itself; the other is the result of both external and internal evaluations. Copies of these two draft reports will be placed in the Library as will copies of the final reports when published.