Written question asked by Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 8 September 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 September 2003. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 September 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets have been set for NHS staff to have access to email; what the baseline was for the target; in which document the target was published; and what progress has been made towards the target. - Includes figures.

Answer: Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set for NHS staff to have access to email; what the baseline was for the target; in which document the target was published; and what progress has been made towards the target. [128910] Mr. Hutton: The Government's strategy document "Building the Information Core--Implementing the NHS Plan" published in 2000 set the target of March 2003 for all National Health Service staff to have access to email. This target is now reflected in the National Programme for Information Technology in the NHS that provides a new approach to delivering IT in the NHS. At 31 March 2003 NHS trusts reported via the information for health tracking database that 79 per cent. of all NHS staff (822,000 of a total of 1,037,000) had access to email and web browsing. Priority had been given to staff directly involved in the patient care process, so that 98 per cent. of consultants (28,600 of 28,700) and 82 per cent. of clinical staff (602,000 of 732,000, including consultants) had connectivity by that date. The new centrally provided NHS national email service is now available to all staff, although take-up is a matter for local priorities. The NHS Directory (electronic address book) is one of the largest in the world and today holds 930,000 entries. The simple mail transfer protocol relay service through which internal NHS messaging, including e-mail, is handled, carried over 30 million messages in August 2003.

Secondary information