Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2022
670. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his plans to improve electronic or digitised patient record systems and greater sharing of such records between primary, community and acute healthcare providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35401/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis week (July 4th 2022) the Department of Health secured approval from Government to enter into contracts for the delivery of an enterprise level Electronic Health Record System for the New Children’s Hospital. This will enable the facility to open as a digital hospital and represent a significant step forward in the journey towards achieving digitised patient record systems and enabling greater sharing of such records between care providers that are based in different healthcare settings. The implementation of an EHR at CHI follows previous deployment of EHR system in Ireland and builds on the success of the electronic health record programmes at the country’s largest maternity hospitals and at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
Since 2022, contracts are also in place for the delivery of clinical management systems capable of delivering electronic health records for patients at the new National Rehabilitation and National Forensics Hospitals.
Also in 2022, market soundings were completed for a suitable patient management systems across the community healthcare setting and a public spending code compliant business case will be developed to secure sanction for investment in this important area.
The Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS), which generates electronic health records for newborn babies and their mothers, is now well established. It has now been implemented in CUH, University Hospital Kerry, The Rotunda Hospital and National Maternity Hospital, resulting in more than 40% of babies born in Ireland having an EHR created at birth. Approval has been provided for deployment to the Coombe Women’s Hospital and the maternity hospital at University Hospital Limerick and these sites are scheduled to go live in 2022 and 2023. This will result in 70% of babies born in Ireland having electronic health records at birth. An approach to the wider deployment of EHRs at national, regional and local level will also be considered in the context of a refreshed eHealth Digital healthcare strategy, due later this year.
The National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS) captures images digitally for all major modalities at all major acute healthcare settings, which facilitates sharing of these images regardless of where a patient if being treated.
Combined with widespread adoption of practice management systems at GP surgeries and community pharmacy systems, where patient medical information is stored in digital format, and the national digital messaging systems 'Healthlink' for sharing of clinical information, Ireland is certainly in a better position that it was just a few years ago. Nonetheless, sustained investment and focus is required to get to where we need to be, whereby digital records become the norm across the Irish health system, and where systems can share the information more easily so that healthcare professionals can access and update the information they need for the patient they are treating, safely and securely. Based on experience from other countries that have more digitally mature health systems, we expect that will require an ongoing commitment in terms of funding and resources in the short, medium and long term.
