CP ITG consultation response on NHS digital transformation
The Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG), of which PSNC is a member, has submitted a formal response to Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into ‘Digital Transformation in the NHS’.
The inquiry is exploring the current use of digital technology within the NHS and is examining changes that could result in improved service delivery and patient outcomes. The changes proposed include digitising health and care records, and enabling records access across primary, secondary and social care. The Inquiry is also considering legacy IT systems used within the NHS.
The request for written submissions set out eleven questions. The CP ITG response relates only to those areas concerning NHS community pharmacy. Within its response, the CP ITG argued that:
- Pharmacy teams should have access to up-to-date records information, e.g. from Shared Care Records, GP Connect and Summary Care Records with Additional Information;
- The Booking and Referral Standards (BaRS) should be extended so that future referrals into and from pharmacy can be communicated seamlessly;
- A framework for the development of pharmacy IT should be developed to ensure IT suppliers are better able to support pharmacy teams and their delivery of services;
- The Community Pharmacy Data Standard should be expanded to enable services information to be efficiently recorded;
- IT standards are needed so that suppliers can enable automatic reporting to the NHS Business Services Authority; and
- The EPS Next Generation project should be further developed.