HC Deb 12 March 2002 vol 381 cc1016-7W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to judge whether accident and emergency centres remain functional. [2936]

Ms Blears

I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon.

Friend the member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.

It is up to local health communities to determine the provision of services in line with clinical advice. The Government are keen to see that patients have access to services at as local a level as possible but against this desire must be balanced the need to ensure that patients receive the highest levels of clinical care, where ever that care is provided.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what critical mass is required to maintain an accident and emergency unit. [8416]

Ms Blears

I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.

It is up to local health communities to determine the provision of services in line with clinical advice. The Government are keen to see that patients have access to services at as local a level as possible but against this desire must be balanced the need to ensure that patients receive the highest levels of clinical care, where ever that care is provided.

Dr. Murrison

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve the efficiency with which patient records are handled in accident and emergency departments. [12860]

Ms Blears

I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.

The NHS Plan, "Information for Health" and "Building the Information Core", made a clear commitment to providing electronic records to everyone in England. The objective is eventually to provide on-line access to the patient record for all members of the national health service family including family doctors, hospitals, NHS Direct, ambulance services and mental health trusts, etc.

One of the key targets in "Information for Health" requires all hospitals to have fully integrated systems meeting Electronic Patient Records (EPR) level 3 requirements, in place by March 2005 to support clinical activity.

The successful implementation of EPR in acute, primary care and community social care environments are a pre-requisite to successful implementation of the first generation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) to support 24-hour emergency care. The EHR will be a summary of the data contained in the numerous organisational-based EPRs (hospitals, primary care, community, etc.) about an individual and will initially be used to support 24-hour emergency care. The ultimate aim is to make it available to all health care professionals to support routine care. The target in "Information for Health" called for the first generation EHR to support 24-hour emergency care to be in place by March 2005.