Seven For ‘13

Ewan Davis | eHealth Insider | December 20, 2012

Ewan Davis looks back at 2012 and identifies the trends – from hackdays to open source to patient-held records – that will reshape NHS IT in 2013 and beyond.

The past year has been a year of transition for UK health IT, since the drawing to a close of the National Programme for IT in the NHS has coincided with major changes to the structure of the health service, and significant financial pressure.

This has resulted in a hiatus in some areas. Overall, however, the lifting of the dead hand of the NPfIT and the shift to local choice and decision making has been welcomed across the informatics community – even if the reorganisation and financial pressure mean that it is not always easy for local organisation to respond as quickly and positively as they need to.

Alongside these developments, a number of positive themes have emerged. These include: