§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when electronic patient records will have the functionality to enable general practitioner surgeries to call up patients for screening tests. [178882]
§ Mr. HuttonThe national health service care records service will include the basic patient information capable of identifying patients for the purposes of existing prevention and screening processes. The NHS care records service is being implemented incrementally by adding functionality in three phases and by rolling out the information technology systems geographically to meet local needs. The functionality to support screening is currently expected to be implemented in Phase 2, starting in 2006.