Academics put NHS on top of the world

As part of the Government's drive to drag the computing power of the NHS up to speed, a small university spin-out company is emerging as a global leader in medical IT.

ComMedica, the fledgling product of Imperial College's medical department, is spearheading attempts to furnish the NHS with a comprehensive system of electronic patient records. This could soon result in the development of the "e-prescribing" of drugs.

According to doctors who have already started using ComMedica's technology, the system, if it were made standard throughout the NHS, would put Britain far ahead of other health services around the world.

Last week, a version of the system, which instantly provides doctors with patient information via an internal network, was launched at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor. As the system is rolled out, it is expected to allow the calling-up of X-rays and other diagnostic images.

Dr Peter Mackie, a consultant haematologist at the Princess Margaret, said: "This is the first step in the way hospital systems should be developing. The patients ultimately get better treatment and it's a model that lets the doctors act more quickly and with better information."

Doctors also hope that ComMedica's technology could shortly become a platform that would allow them to prescribe drugs remotely, either directly to hospital wards or to a patient's nearest pharmacy, ready for immediate collection.

ComMedica's launch of its system coincides with efforts to beef up the IT capabilities of the NHS. At next month's spending review, Health Secretary Alan Milburn is expected to raise the bidding by asking for an additional £5bn on top of the £40bn over five years already promised by Chancellor Gordon Brown.

This additional sum would be used to accelerate plans for a centralised NHS IT system to replace the current mess of incompatible networks and out-of-date software.

ComMedica's system was designed by scientists at Imperial College in an attempt to create a network capable of handling patient information on a national level. It was spun out into a company as part of London University's drive to commercialise its research.