NHS Spends £240m a Year Storing Paper Records Despite Digital Push
More than 200 NHS sites still rely entirely on paper files, exposing the distance between England’s plans for a single patient record and daily clinical practice.
England’s National Health Service spent £239.5 million storing paper patient records in 2024-25, despite years of pledges to digitise care and a new plan for a single electronic record accessible across the service.
The analysis found that 209 NHS sites, including hospital clinics and diagnostic centres, still used paper records exclusively.
Only five NHS trusts had fully digitised patient records.
Most hospitals operate a hybrid system, retaining appointment notes, correspondence, scan results and other documents in both electronic and physical form.
The bill covers more than paper and filing cabinets.
Many providers lack space to store accumulated files on site and pay for external storage.
The continued use of paper can also fragment information between services, leaving clinicians without a complete view of a patient’s treatment, medicines, allergies and test results when care moves from one setting to another.
The government’s ten-year plan for England places a Single Patient Record at the centre of its digital strategy.
The proposed system would bring information held by general practitioners, hospitals and other health and care providers into one secure record, with patients expected to be able to view it through the NHS App from 2028. Maternity care is intended to be among the first areas of rollout.
The plan requires legislation because records are held by separate organisations under different systems and responsibilities.
The Health Bill would give ministers powers to require providers, including general practitioner practices, to share specified information for the record.
Supporters argue that joined-up data could reduce duplicated histories, prevent errors and improve co-ordination of care.
Its progress depends on more than converting paper files.
General practitioner leaders have raised concerns about confidentiality, data control and public confidence, while MPs have warned that distrust surrounding the National Health Service’s contract with Palantir could deter patients from sharing information.
The government says the new record will operate under existing data-protection law and include controls over access.
The figures revive a familiar problem for the health service: deadlines for a paperless National Health Service were set for 2018, then 2020 and later March 2025, without being met.
The proposed Single Patient Record is now in development, with Parliament considering the legal framework required for its rollout.
The analysis found that 209 NHS sites, including hospital clinics and diagnostic centres, still used paper records exclusively.
Only five NHS trusts had fully digitised patient records.
Most hospitals operate a hybrid system, retaining appointment notes, correspondence, scan results and other documents in both electronic and physical form.
The bill covers more than paper and filing cabinets.
Many providers lack space to store accumulated files on site and pay for external storage.
The continued use of paper can also fragment information between services, leaving clinicians without a complete view of a patient’s treatment, medicines, allergies and test results when care moves from one setting to another.
The government’s ten-year plan for England places a Single Patient Record at the centre of its digital strategy.
The proposed system would bring information held by general practitioners, hospitals and other health and care providers into one secure record, with patients expected to be able to view it through the NHS App from 2028. Maternity care is intended to be among the first areas of rollout.
The plan requires legislation because records are held by separate organisations under different systems and responsibilities.
The Health Bill would give ministers powers to require providers, including general practitioner practices, to share specified information for the record.
Supporters argue that joined-up data could reduce duplicated histories, prevent errors and improve co-ordination of care.
Its progress depends on more than converting paper files.
General practitioner leaders have raised concerns about confidentiality, data control and public confidence, while MPs have warned that distrust surrounding the National Health Service’s contract with Palantir could deter patients from sharing information.
The government says the new record will operate under existing data-protection law and include controls over access.
The figures revive a familiar problem for the health service: deadlines for a paperless National Health Service were set for 2018, then 2020 and later March 2025, without being met.
The proposed Single Patient Record is now in development, with Parliament considering the legal framework required for its rollout.