Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party)

The overall strategy for the portal programme will be agreed by the clinical portal programme board, which will meet for the first time later this month. The detailed design and capacity of systems, including the target number of users and the target speed of system response, will be determined by boards to meet the needs of their local clinicians. The member will be aware that there is no plan to create a single national database of patient records, so portal services to support clinicians will be developed more locally.

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party)

The clinical portal will, in and of itself, provide access to what we are referring to as the electronic patient record. In a sense, it is the electronic window on that information, which will be available in a much easier and more integrated fashion. We see the clinical portal concept as delivering information that is assembled virtually from existing information sources, rather than as creating a new database. It is an incremental, sensible and pragmatic way of building the electronic patient record.

The clinical portal will provide access to the electronic patient record. There has been consultation with clinicians about what bits of clinical information they would most value being able to access through the clinical portal. I am more than happy to keep Robin Harper updated on progress in the matter, in which he clearly has an interest.

Ian McKee (Scottish National Party)

What guarantees can the cabinet secretary offer that only those with the patient's informed consent will have access to the contents of electronic records?

Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party)

Systems that provide access to information electronically are in place at the moment; I am thinking specifically of the emergency care summary. There are clear rules and regulations about who can access that information and in what circumstances. The same will apply to any information that is available electronically.

In relation to both electronically available information and information that is available more traditionally, by paper-based routes, it is important that there are clear rules and guidelines on access and the circumstances in which information can be accessed, to protect patient confidentiality. Any system, electronic or otherwise, is open to abuse—no one can guarantee that systems will not be abused—but it is important that the rules that are in place are robust. That will apply to the clinical portal and to any other electronic information.