21.05.12
Online booking by 2015
The Department of Health has published its Information Strategy, pledging to introduce online booking of doctors’ appointments by 2015. Test results will also be available to check online.
Smartphone apps could be developed to help patients choose between local services, and their medical records will also be available online, giving people “more power”. A new website will include information on hospitals, community services, social care and charities to help patients choose the best care.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “The internet has revolutionised how people shop, bank and travel, and for too long the NHS has not been part of that. These proposals will ensure that the NHS will become easier to understand, easier to access and will drive up standards of care.
“If people are going to be able to choose, with their doctor, which hospital will provide them with the best care, they will need all the latest information.
“By allowing people to access the NHS online, we will put an end to the 8am rush to phone your GP to try and book an appointment. Reforms like this will take the hassle out of the health service.”
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Health Informatics Unit director Professor John Williams said: “The RCP particularly welcomes the strategy’s emphasis on giving patients better access to medical records to support and encourage informed partnerships in care between patients and healthcare professionals, and the recommendation that every organisation should have a senior clinician or care professional responsible for taking the lead in ensuring that information is organised effectively in support of better patient care.
“Clinical leadership will be vital to the successful implementation of the strategy, and this recommendation will give the current campaign for a chief clinical information officer in every hospital a fresh boost.
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