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Having
worked on a number of government data sharing
projects, I am only too aware of the issues the
NHS will face when creating the national database
spine. Alarm bells started ringing when
I read "the current plan is to vacuum up
patient data from GPs' systems" (Computer
Weekly, 8 June).
Merging
data from databases creates a number of issues,
particularly relating to measuring the quality
of the merged patient records. Gartner research
has recognised that "projects will fail,
in large part because the poor quality of underlying
data is not recognised or addressed".
The
quality of data will be fundamental to the success
of new government initiatives such as the modernisation
of the NHS. If, as Gartner stated, 25% of
vital data in the world's top 1,000 businesses
is inaccurate or incomplete, alarm bells should
also be ringing in the corridors of power about
public sector data quality. We are still
in the dark as to how the NHS plans to tackle
this issue.
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