NHS: What's next for the National Programme?

The NHS IT reforms have been front page news for Computing since the National Programme was first considered last year.

We have been first with big news and carried the views of some of the country's leading experts. The paper intends to give the best possible coverage of all the four pillars of the plan: the broadband NHSNet linking hospitals and GPs; the national electronic patient records (EPR) system; ebookings; and electronic prescription systems.

In other words, the real stories about one of the most ambitious projects in the history of IT. The plan is now considerably more clear after a series of announcements this month:

2003

• Data standards defined
• NHS clinical and management staff connected to NHS network
• Electronic transfer of certain test results
• First stage of electronic patient records

• National directory service
• Broadband infrastructure in place
• Electronic radiology messaging

• National applications for electronic bookings, prescriptions and patient records

• Broadband access for NHS local and wide area networks
• Added functionality for EPR, bookings and prescriptions
• Telemedicine in GP surgeries for ECG and skin disease

If you have a news story, a contribution to make to the debate or an opinion, contact the leader of our NHS reporting team, Sarah Arnott on: 0207 316 9629.