The new NHS information strategy Information for Health was launched by the Secretary of State for Health on 24 September 1998. Information for patients and the public forms a key part of the strategy, which is set in the context of a new Information Age in which members of the public have electronic access to information and services 24 hours a day.
Specific strategic commitments in the strategy include:
• development of a National Electronic Library for Health providing access to high quality, accredited health care knowledge for all users including patients and the public;
• progressive development of NHS Direct as a wider gateway to NHS services, including telemedicine and telecare;
• establishment of a national gateway site to health information for the public on the Internet;
• strengthening the role of the Centre for Health Information Quality in accrediting patient and public information material.
It is encouraging to see a strategy based on knowledge rather than technology, and with the assumption that this knowledge should be accessible to all, including patients and the public. We look forward to its implementation over the next 5 years.
Information for Health: an Information Strategy for the Modern NHS 1998–2005. NHS␣Executive, 1998. Further information can be obtained from: www.imt4nhs.exec.nhs.uk/strategy/index.htm.
Edited by Bob Gann