http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-186340916 July 2012 Last updated at 08:55
NHS IT 'does have benefits'By Paul Curley IT clinical director, Mid Yorks Hospitals NHS
Great possibilities are claimed for information technology in the NHS - but the reality is very different.
In this week's Scrubbing Up Paul Curley, clinical director for IM&T at Mid-Yorks Hospitals NHS Trust, says that despite the problems, successful IT is crucial to the future of the NHS.
Information about the right patient, in the right place at the right time is the mantra frequently trotted out glibly about healthcare IT.
Huge improvements in quality and reduction in risk are claimed.
The government's recently published Information Strategy calls for patients to have access to their records by 2014.
But what does this mean? Is it just GP records? Does it refer to records in all hospitals patients have ever attended? What would such records look like? How could they be interpreted? And if they are not held electronically do we ignore them?
None of this is clear.
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