A new Cloud base platform has just been launched by the NHS in order to allow secure access to medical records.
The idea is to speed up communication between patients, consultants and general practitioners through accessing files through the internet.
Patients will have the ability to view their data via a number of devices and control exactly who has access to their records. Furthermore they can request to have their details referred to medical specialists.
Flexiant claims that the project “could be used to integrate all phases of health-care treatment, from assisted living to primary and secondary healthcare, so that the same data can be used throughout.”
“For the first time patients can have control over their treatment and their records and that is enormously empowering” stated Tony Lucus, founder of Flexiant.
Flexiant are the engine behind the project and have teamed up with Napier University (Edinburgh) to develop the project over the last two years. The aim is to make the current paper system a thing of the past.
“This has massive implications for the future of patient treatment in the UK,” according to Lucus.
Initial trials have been held by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the only real sticking point is that of security. This has become especially pronounced after the recent attacks on the likes of the World Bank and Sega.
The Cloud Industry Forum warned that “It is important for NHS patients data to be secure in the Cloud, should this e-health system become official.”
The rebuttal by Cloud advocates is that patient records are often left hanging around by hospital beds providing the potential for a much larger security threat.
