NHS Trust Aims for 90% Electronic Patient Records by 2023

March 1, 2022

Sajid Javid, the UK Health Secretary, has set a goal for 90% of NHS trusts to implement electronic patient records (EPR) by 2023. Currently, one in five NHS trusts have not implemented an electronic health records (EHR) system. This goal is accompanied by plans to move social care providers, of whom 40% use paper records, to digital systems as well.

According to Fleur Jeffries, “Javid’s announcement comes in light of the government’s plans to merge NHSX and NHS Digital into NHS England as part of a larger restructuring of the UK’s digital health system. The review of the NHS’ digital strategy was led by former chief executive of Tesco’s online division, Laura Wade-Gery, who added that structural changes were necessary to put digital transformation at the core of the NHS. Part of the plans for digital personalisation will be promoting greater use of the NHS app, which is already being used by approximately half of all adults in England.”