National Health Services form Health Informatics Service Alliance and create collaboration framework
The health services of Scotland and Wales have agreed to work together on digital technology in healthcare with the creation of a new shared service.
NHS Scotland and NHS Wales have said the Health Informatics Service Alliance will focus on technology developments and expertise, and indicated that Northern Ireland could soon join to complete the trio of devolved healthcare administrations.
"This collaboration will ensure that we can work together to deliver services effectively to benefit the member countries, with new opportunities to be gained from shared innovation," said Andrew Griffiths, NHS Wales’ informatics service director.
A service management board has been established to hammer out operational requirements including maintenance, development and decommissioning and to oversee quality and user requirements. It will also deal with governance and stewardship issues.
Messaging precedent
The official announcement highlighted that NHS Wales and NHS Northern Ireland already use the Scottish Care Information Gateway electronic messaging service to manage referrals and discharges and for the exchange of patient information across borders.
The agreement suggests the NHSs in the two countries are looking to share more digital services, and Martin Irving, associate director architecture and solutions services for NHS National Services Scotland, said the move will help the services to make more of their financial resources.
Image by Daniel Sone (photographer), public domain via Wikimedia Commons
