How ‘digital’ NHS spends £240million each year… on paper records
The NHS spends £239.5 million a year storing patient records in boxes and filing cabinets, despite long-standing Government promises to make the health service paperless, according to analysis by the King's Fund think-tank. Only five NHS trusts in England have fully digitised patient records, while 209 sites, including diagnostic centres and clinics, remain entirely reliant on paper, with most hospitals unable to store files on-site and forced to rent additional storage space at taxpayers' expense.
Successive pledges to eliminate paper records have failed to materialise: former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised the NHS would be "paperless by 2018", and a further commitment aimed for "paper-free at the point of care" by 2020. The Government's ten-year health plan now targets a "single patient record" from 2028, integrated into the NHS App, though MPs are yet to debate the relevant health bill. King's Fund chief executive Sarah Woolnough called the spending a "flagrant example" of NHS waste, warning that paper records risk lost information and inaccuracies, with Healthwatch research suggesting nearly one in four adults report errors or missing details in their medical records.
In short
- NHS spends £239.5m yearly storing paper records despite paperless pledges since 2013
- Only five trusts have fully digitised records; 209 sites remain entirely paper-based
- Single patient record system targeted for 2028 via the NHS App
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The NHS has repeatedly broken digitisation promises since 2018 and currently wastes £240 million annually storing paper records in boxes and filing cabinets, whilst exposing patients to safety risks from lost or inaccurate information. The technology is proven and established in modern health systems elsewhere. Further delay represents an inexcusable waste of taxpayer resources that should fund patient care, revealing a failure of NHS leadership and government commitment.
The case against
The NHS should pursue digitisation carefully rather than chase arbitrary political deadlines, given the documented history of catastrophic failures in large-scale health IT projects, most notably the abandoned National Care Records System. The genuine complexity of integrating records across thousands of NHS organisations, coupled with legitimate concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities and system resilience, means a strategic phased approach better protects patients than forced timelines that risk repeating past failures and diverting finite resources from other pressing clinical needs.
Explained simply
NHS patient records contain information such as diagnoses, test results and treatments, which staff use to make decisions about care. Some records are still kept in paper files, stored in hospitals or in rented space when there is not enough room on site. The King’s Fund is a think-tank that analyses health policy and services.
Governments have repeatedly promised to move NHS records on to digital systems, including targets for 2018 and 2020, but progress has varied across England. A digital record could let authorised staff access patient information electronically, while keeping it accurate and joined up across services is a practical challenge.
The issue matters because storing paper files costs public money, and missing or incorrect information can affect the care patients receive. The Government’s current plan is to develop a single patient record linked to the NHS App, with a target of 2028.