§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland which NHS trusts and health boards are currently connected to the NHSnet; when he expects every NHS trust and health board to have a link to the NHSnet; what future resources will be required to(a) complete and (b) support this service; and what resources have been allocated to this project (i) this year and (ii) in each of the next three financial years. [65762]
§ Mr. GalbraithAll Health Boards and NHS Trusts will be linked to NHSnet by 31 March 1999. The current position of Health Boards and NHS Trusts is set out in the table. Resources allocated to this project in this year are £6 million. The ongoing costs of supporting these links will be met by the Health Boards and Trusts.
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Board/NHS trusts Linkage complete Linkage planned by 31 March 1999 Ayrshire and Arran Health Board Yes Ayrshire and Arran Community Healthcare NHS Trust Yes North Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust Yes South Ayrshire and Arran NHS Trust Yes Borders Health Board Yes Borders Community Health Services NHS Trust Yes Borders General Hospital NHS Trust Yes Dumfries and Galloway Health Board Yes Dumfries and Galloway Acute and Maternity Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Dumfries and Galloway Community Health Services NHS Trust Yes Fife Health Board Yes Fife Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Kirkcaldy Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Queen Margaret Hospital NHS Trust Yes Forth Valley Health Board Yes Central Scotland Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary NHS Trust Yes Stirling Royal Infirmary NHS Trust Yes Grampian Health Board Yes Aberdeen Royal Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Grampian Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Moray Health Services NHS Trust Yes Greater Glasgow Health Board Yes Glasgow Dental Hospital and School NHS Trust Yes Glasgow Royal Infirmary University NHS Trust Yes Greater Glasgow Community and Mental Health NHS Trust Yes Southern General Hospital NHS Trust Yes Stobhill NHS Trust Yes Victoria Infirmary NHS Trust Yes West Glasgow Hospitals University NHS Trust Yes The Yorkhill NHS Trust Yes Highland Health Board Yes Caithness and Sutherland NHS Trust Yes Highland Communities NHS Trust Yes Raigmore Hospital NHS Trust Yes Lanarkshire Health Board Yes Hairmyres and Stonehouse Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Lanarkshire Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Law Hospital NHS Trust Yes Monklands and Bellshill Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Lothian Health Yes East and Midlothian NHS Trust Yes Edinburgh Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Edinburgh Sick Children's NHS Trust Yes Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh NHS Trust Yes West Lothian NHS Trust Yes Western General Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Orkney Health Board Yes Orkney Health Unit Yes Shetland Health Board Yes Shetland Hospitals and Community Services Unit Yes Tayside Health Board Yes Angus NHS Trust Yes Dundee Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Dundee Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Yes Perth and Kinross Healthcare NHS Trust Yes Western Isles Health Board Yes
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if full use of the NHSnet requires(a) GP practices and (b) NHS trusts connected to the NHSnet to have compatible software and hardware; and which companies have supplied the hardware and software for the project. [65763]
§ Mr. GalbraithNHSnet provides a UK-wide secure private telecommunications network for NHS Organisations across the UK under contracts with BT, BT Syntegra and Cable and Wireless. Connection to NHSnet is achieved by connecting to a Service Access Point on the NHSnet. NHS organisations can either connect directly to an NHSnet Service Access Point or indirectly if they are already linked to a network, e.g. a private Health Board wide network, with a gateway connection to NHSnet. All networks (whether single GP Practices or Board level private networks) connecting to NHSnet must conform to the NHSnet Code of Connection which maintains the security and integrity of NHSnet.
Full use of NHSnet requires each GP Practice and NHS Trust (or the local network to which they belong) to meet published standards for NHSnet which comply with the Internet suite protocols (IP). GP Practices and NHS Trusts must therefore have systems which are compatible with NHSnet (but not necessarily the same as each other). A variety of suppliers will have supplied parts of the overall network; details of these are not held centrally.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects all GP practices in Scotland to have a link to the NHSnet; what resources have been allocated to this project(a) this year and (b) in each of the next three financial years; what resources will be required to (i) complete and (ii) support this service; and what is the estimated cost saving over the next five years. [65760]
§ Mr. Galbraith97 per cent. of GP practices are already connected and the remaining practices which asked to participate will be linked by March 1999. The total cost of this project was £7 million of which £0.415 million was spent in 1998–99. Resources required for ongoing support of the installed systems and NHSnet connections will be met through the usual arrangements between Health Boards and GPs for reimbursement of expenses.
It is difficult at this stage to estimate the cost saving when the system is fully utilised. The main objective is to improve patient care through ensuring that clinicians have access to the information they need to care for patients wherever they are in the NHSiS. The benefits expected when the full infrastructure is put into place also include savings in costs and reductions in the bureaucracy of sending an estimated 10 million paper forms around the system each year, saving in staff time, and improved convenience for patients.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what percentage of GP practices are currently connected to the NHSnet. [65761]
§ Mr. GalbraithMy most recent information is that 1,040 GP Practices are now connected to the NHSnet. This represents 97 per cent. of all practices in Scotland. Of the remaining 34 practices, 4 practices did not ask to participate and the remainder will be linked by March.