Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much appreciate that work is being done in this area but I am just wondering about the timeframe for roll-out. In a discussion on an earlier question, I mentioned the growth of the older population and the need to fast-track new ways of managing both homecare and long-term care in nursing homes. I am not sure whether there has been any co-ordination between the HSE and public and private nursing homes regarding computerisation. Computerisation means that if somebody ends up in hospital, a clear file setting out the level of care he or she is receiving and the medication he or she is on can be easily accessed.

This week, I was talking to a general doctor who works in a Dublin hospital. Bearing in mind that we have been talking about additional hospital staff, including nurses and doctors, he spends 50% of his time trying to track down notes and scans. If they were all computerised, that would not happen.

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