HC Deb 17 May 2004 vol 421 cc819-20W
Mr. Gibb

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to create a unified database of(a) health records and (b) users of NHS services; and if he will make a statement. [170334]

Mr. Hutton

The national programme for information technology in the national health service in England has been established to connect delivery of the NHS Plan with the capabilities of modern information technologies to support the delivery of fast, convenient and seamless services designed around the patient.

Fundamental to this is the NHS care records service (NHS CRS) that will enable patient care information and records to be accessed at the point of need anywhere in England. made outside the GUM setting, such as in general practice, are not held centrally and not, therefore, included in these totals.

Over time, the NHS CRS will provide all 50 million NHS patients with an individual electronic care record to summarise key treatment and episodes of care within either the health service or social care. Access to any personally identifiable information about patients will be subject to stringent access controls, confidentiality and security safeguards and will be fully compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.