This doubt about e-records ignores the fact that the current systems are about as poor and inefficient as possible.

My medical records have been lost on two occasions (or rather two different sets of records have been lost) whilst my wife's records have gone missing from our local Hospital straight after a bungled operation (coincidence?). At least e-records will be easier to move around and keep track of.

The nurses do have a point about training but ought to look at other aspects of training first before complaining. We were in A&E the other day with my father in law and the new system was defeating them. The complaint - one terminal and only 1 hours training. Seems a bit poor doesn't it. However I had a bigger complaint - namely that the nurse was sneezing over the terminal then not washing her hands before treating patients.

Rant over....

My wife works for the NHS and I know more about NPfIT and related issues than she does. There is almost zero communication with NHS staff about these serious and significant issues.

Erm, I wouldn't count on that <click >, <clickety>, <click>...

Not if the experience of the Inland Revenue is anything to go by....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/07/24/inland_revenues_pathetic_net_effort/

Maybe, but at least with paper it's only one record at a time (barring a major fire). Who would bet against an error at some point that will wipe millions of patient records in one go?

While I sympathise with Kablenet's experiences with Medical Records. I get to listen to a view point from the other side of the treatment room. My wife is a Practice Nurse at our local surgery.

The problems encountered with computer based records, appointment systems and patient tracking are immense. As in the article access to training and computers is a major issue. From an accountants point of view, transferring every thing to a computer based system is an excellent idea. Time slots to maximise throughput of "clients"; tight cost control of medical supplies etc.

But what happens is that the system is poorly implemented due to budget cuts, poorly tested due to marketing forces driving delivery times, and not given a front end that works for people who, let's face it are not likely to be 100% computer literate.

My wife is a damned good nurse, but computers.... I ended up producing a Family Planning thesis for her because while she could do all the work/research/etc. creating a document to reflect this was not happening (Did you know that emergency contraception is effective for up to 72 hours after the event?)

If I go to the doctors, I want to be sure that the Nurse or Doctor who I see is interested in my issues. Not either trying to work out why the file he saved to Desktop has gone, or watching the timer count down to the 10 minute timeslot I'm allocated for my treatment. The main aim of Healthcare seems to be lost these days. Surely trained and competant people treating patients with care and the best available methods is more important?

Let's not go down the road sign posted "Offshoring UK Database's" because that'll send me off on one...