Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee

Recommendation 18

18

Patient records are fragmented across thousands of local organisations that provide patient care, including 227...

Conclusion
Patient records are fragmented across thousands of local organisations that provide patient care, including 227 NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, around 7,000 GP practices and around 18,500 adult social care providers.32 NHSX acknowledged that to deliver its digital strategy, local organisations would need the necessary skills and capacity, as well as guidance from the centre, to be able to make decisions and progress.33 However, specialist skills in digital are in short supply.34 The National Audit Office found that 13% of trusts self-assessed their capability as ‘high’ and 16% of trusts self-assessed it as ‘low’ in 2017.35 The Department noted that some trusts were more digitally mature than others.36