# How ‘digital’ NHS spends £240million each year… on paper records

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/how-digital-nhs-spends-240million-each-year-on-paper-records/
- Published: 2026-08-04T23:01:26+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-25T07:31:03+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16028841/digital-NHS-millions-year-paper-records.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- 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

## Summary

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.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.