Any modern, complex organisation depends upon information for both its core service and to manage itself efficiently. Nowhere is this more true than in the NHS, where accurate, up-to-date information about patients can make the difference between life and death.

Currently, too many computer systems in hospitals, GPs’ surgeries and other settings are unconnected. Much information – including many vital patient records – is not available to clinicians when they need it. This leads to delays and errors.

Even today, large amounts of information are stored on paper. This presents numerous problems around accuracy, availability and confidentiality. Digitisation of the NHS is at the heart of the modernisation agenda. The programme ‘NHS Connecting for Health’, which was launched two years ago as the NHS National Programme for Information Technology, is delivering these vital information services across the health service in England.

Like other parts of the public sector, over the years the NHS has suffered from under-investment – that’s why we are not just hiring more nurses and doctors, but also investing in ensuring they have the appropriate tools to carry out their job.

Information lies at the heart of this. We are determined to improve the provision of information to the NHS’s patients and staff. When the programme is complete, every NHS site will be linked electronically to every other site. All sorts of information – ranging from X-rays and scan results to a patient’s appointments – will be available online.

This will not only just improve efficiency and administration; it will also save lives. Someone admitted to hospital some distance from their home will no longer be at risk of vital medical information not being available to the team that is treating them for the first time.

That means they will not be prescribed drugs to which they have known allergies – because the system will flag up a warning – and the doctors and nurses treating them will know if they are already taking medication or have recently had a significant operation.

Treatment will become safer, with fewer avoidable errors. Doctors will make better decisions on treatment because they will, if the patient agrees, have a more complete picture of a patient’s health.

Maintenance of patient confidentially remains paramount. Only those clinicians with a strict need to see a patient’s medical records will be able to access them from the electronic system. If a patient does not want his or her records to be shared between clinicians, they will not be shared. A ‘patient guarantee’, which will be published later this year, will make this clear.

Stringent security measures will make sure that the risk of unauthorised access to personal data is minimised. This will be a significant improvement on the current situation. The latest security arrangements for access to the new systems are being put in place. Moreover, unlike the current situation – where paper files sometimes get lost, are illegible or inaccurate – the new electronic system will keep records under much tighter control.

The new system will also allow patients to choose when and where they want to be treated. By the end of this year, most people being referred by their GP for the first time into the secondary care sector will be able to sit with their GP or another member of staff, or via the telephone or internet, and make a choice about the time and place of their appointment. GPs will also be able to issue prescriptions electronically.

All these developments mean safer and better care for patients, while NHS staff will benefit from quicker access to the records they need.

This programme began in earnest two years ago, and much progress has been made. Over the last few months, I have seen the first of the new systems in hospitals and GP surgeries. Progress is being made. We are of course ensuring that the systems are both robust and easy to use before installing them across the NHS.

I am confident that the overall vision of a modernised, 21st century NHS with the information infrastructure it deserves is becoming a reality.