Information systems for the community health services

This paper is concerned with the design and implementation of an information system which fulfils some of the local needs of fourteen nursing and para-medical professions working in the community in a district health authority, whilst satisfying the statutory requirements of the NHS Körner steering group for those professions. The implementation of the computer information system was achieved through the participation of those professionals who would eventually use the system. A prototype system, which has now been extended, has been operational for some time covering the chiropody and school nursing staff groups. An evaluation of this system has shown that a significant number of the problems and objectives of those groups have been successfully addressed, the value of community health information has been increased, and information has been fed back to staff and better utilized.