NHS puts brake on roll-out of summary care records

The NHS in England is insisting that its scheme to computerise the health records of all patients will go ahead despite the suspension of work in five strategic health authorities after concerns about “professional and public awareness.”

Connecting for Health, the NHS’s IT agency, said that it had halted the uploading of summary care records in five “accelerated roll-out areas,” covering 70 primary care trusts, where strategic health authorities were informing patients of their right to opt out of the programme.

However, it said that in 16 areas where primary care trusts …