§ Mr. LevittTo ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways(a) patients and (b) patient groups are involved in pilot projects for the development of electronic health records. [144701]
§ Ms StuartA key component of the Electronic Record Development and Implementation Programme, which was launched in November 1999, was the inclusion of patient representatives in the selection of the sites. The National Health Service Information Authority (NHSIA) has encouraged the sites to involve their own patient communities through appropriate local mechanisms. In some instances this has involved condition-specific patient groups or patient representatives on project boards.
510WTo support this process the NHSIA has appointed Marlene Winfield as Head of Stakeholder Relationships: Patients and Citizens, to consult national patient groups in order to ensure an appropriate level of patient involvement in the programme at both national and local levels.
Some sites have specific objectives in relation to involving patients, and have conducted patient surveys of attitudes to sharing information, confidentiality, the electronic health record, patient access and patient-held records and these results will be shared.
In addition, a project involving two general practices is also being supported by the NHSIA in the development and implementation of the electronic health record. The general practitioner's practices involved in the project are Hadfield Health Centre in Derbyshire and Bury Knowles Health Centre in Oxford, and are exemplars in their involvement of patients within the practice. The practices are exploring issues around patient self-monitoring and access to the electronic record at the time of consultation; use of electronic records and their migration to electronic and hand-held patient information integrated into the record.