| NHS trusts will
need entirely new types of information systems in order to keep up with
the pace of constant change in the NHS in England and for carrying out
their parts in the envisaged new direction for community services — set
out in February’s white paper Our health, our care, our choice —
according to primary care informaticians addressing the HC2006
conference at Harrogate. Ewan Davis, Chairman of the British Computer
Society’s Primary Healthcare Group, told conference delegates that the
main problem “is that the rate at which organisational policy and
structure changes is faster than monolithic ICT systems can change to
meet their needs. So we are doomed to have ICT systems that are
continually behind both the policy and organisational requirements of
the NHS; and that’s not going to change”.
Full story in bjhc&im May 2006 (571 words)
|