Question reference: S5W-34891
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 2 February 2021
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 22 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the National Digital Platform will be rolled out, and what training will be provided on its use for health and social care staff.
Answer
The National Digital Platform is not a single system but a range of products and tools that are becoming available over time, with development led by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). Its main purpose is to provide the underpinning technologies that make available appropriate health and care information whenever and wherever it is needed. Core components such as a secure cloud environment, user authentication and access controls, data repositories and integration capabilities are now largely in place. The platform is currently being used to support our Covid 19 response, for example by holding the national Vaccination Record and hosting the Protect Scotland App. A number of products are in development that will use and enhance platform capability, including the OpenEyes Electronic Patient Record (EPR) for eyecare services in Scotland, the ReSPECT emergency anticipatory care planning tool and the development of Cancer Treatment Summaries.
NES also lead on overall workforce development for digital health & care, and are ensuring that all staff will be suitably digitally skilled, with training and support in place for the introduction of any new tools and services.