Electronic health records in England

In 2005 the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom began deployment of Electronic health record systems in NHS Trusts. The goal was to have all patients with a centralized electronic health record by 2010.[1] Lorenzo patient record systems were adopted in a number of NHS trusts While many hospitals acquired electronic patient records systems in this process, there was no national healthcare information exchange.[2] Ultimately, the program was dismantled after a cost to the UK taxpayer was over $24 Billion (£12 billion), and is considered one of the most expensive healthcare IT failures.[3]

In November 2013 NHS England launched a clinical digital maturity index to measure the digital maturity of NHS providers[4] but 40% of NHS managers surveyed by the Health Service Journal did not know their ranking, and the same proportion said improving their ranking was of low or very low priority.[5]

Electronic palliative care coordination systems have been developed by Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Royal College of General Practitioners which mean that terminally ill patients no longer have to explain their circumstances afresh to every new professional they meet and are less likely to be inappropriately taken to hospital.[6]