BMJ  2008;336:390 (16 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39484.423391.59

Views & Reviews

Personal View

Electronic patient records: reasons to be cheerful

¹ London

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

Like many people, I use the internet for banking, email, shopping, and the transfer of sensitive personal documents, including tax returns. I take sensible precautions—such as declining to give my bank details to phishing fraudsters—and I trust it.

Likewise, I’m relaxed about the prospect of my medical records being available digitally throughout the National Health Service. In fact, as the NHS Summary Care Record pilot scheme approaches its first birthday and enters its evaluation phase, in anticipation of national roll-out, I’m positively excited.

I find it reassuring to think that should I ever find myself in an emergency department, the complete strangers fighting to save my life will have access to any vital personal information that could govern how they treat me.

Also, I find it inspiring to think that the information harvested each year from millions of such encounters will be aggregated and analysed to ensure that the NHS . . . [Full text of this article]

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