Press release: NHS Confederation comments on Connecting for Health benefits statement
14 Mar 2008
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Commenting on the statement, Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation which represents over 95 per cent of NHS trusts, said:
"This report provides a welcome opportunity to take a balanced view on the successes and failures of the connecting for health (CfH) programme.
"Among the positives, England is now the only country in the world that has a digitalised X-ray system - known as PACS. This system has improved patient care, is popular with doctors and has released resources that can be used elsewhere. Similarly, electronic prescriptions will cut down on paperwork and more importantly reduce prescription errors - a major source of adverse incidents.
"On the other hand, it is clear that the failure to effectively engage local clinicians and managers at an early enough stage as well as the complexity of designing the system has caused real problems. The health select committee has already identified some of the actions that can be taken to deal with these issues.
"CfH was a very ambitious and imaginative programme that could never instantly put the English NHS at the leading edge of electronic systems. We welcome this statement and recognise that there is a great deal still to be done both to deliver the benefits promised by this program and to sort through the problems that often arise in transformations of this scale."
Notes for editors
The NHS Confederation represents more than 95% of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
Contact details
Contact Niall Smith 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309, Ruth Kennedy 020 7074 3312 or 07884 47 3086, or Ruby Casey-Knight 020 7074 3306 or 07881 957305. For out of hours media enquiries, please call the Duty Press Officer on 07880 500726.