Digital NHS ‘distant reality’: majority of trusts use paper records

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By Daniel Pye

Eight in 10 NHS trusts are still using pen and paper for record keeping more than 25 years after the first push for digital, an analysis has found.

Using freedom of information (FOI) requests, the BMJ found just 39 of 184 NHS trusts reported using paperless systems to document clinical notes.

And just a quarter (45) reported using fully electronic systems for prescribing medications.

In 1998, Tony Blair’s Labour government first set out its ambition to transition the NHS from paper to digital.

Since then, several ministers have championed the potential benefits of shifting to digital, including ease of sharing information and more securely storing patient data.

It can also join up data from across multiple healthcare organisations.

But the BMJ suggested this ambition remains “a distant reality” a quarter of a century on.

Despite all hospital trusts having an electronic patient record in place, 79% (145) reported they still relied on pen and paper to some extent when documenting clinical notes.