Confederation welcomes data solution

Proposals for developing information systems for NHS contractors have been cautiously welcomed by the Optical Confederation.

The government White Paper The Power of Information aims to build on previous commitments to greater flexibility in IT solutions.

The Confederation welcomed a proposal to make large, routine public health data sets available but expressed concerns about the collection of patient satisfaction data, stressing the need for simple, cost-effective and secure information interchange by NHSmail.

Connectivity with the rest of the NHS was also identified as a key issue for optics, and the Confederation opposed any system preventing patients accessing care if they could not provide their NHS number.