Sharing patient information electronically throughout NHS: Change of culture is needed

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7415.622-d

BMJ 2003;327:622-623 (13 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7415.622-d

Letter

Sharing patient information electronically throughout NHS

Change of culture is needed

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Booth's editorial highlights once again the gulfbetween information technology in primary and secondary care.¹The key factor accounting for this lies in the evolution ofinformation systems in these two parts of the NHS.

Primary care computing has been led by general practitioners,initially by enthusiastic entrepreneurs, trying to develop anelectronic alternative to paper records that will provide fastand reliable answers to clinical problems. As a result, generalpractitioners and primary care trusts can now access quite advancedquality data on the care of patients. The new contract for generalpractitioners could not have been conceived without this.

In contrast, information in secondary care has generally beenled by managers, with an emphasis on the needs of management,such as waiting times and bed states. This has left cliniciansin secondary care unable to answer simple questions easily,such as, how many diabetic patients have . . . [Full text of this article]

Andrew Langton, general practitioner

Monks Park Surgery, Bristol BS7 0UE alangton@bigfoot.com