The National Health Service is likely to spend close to £20bn over the next decade on its ambitious programme to create an electronic record for every patient in England, Lord Warner, the health minister in charge of the programme, has said.

The service has awarded national contracts worth £6.2bn over 10 years to create the broadband links and other infrastructure that will allow electronic records largely to replace paper ones. The programme is also steadily allowing digital images to replace old fashioned film for X-rays and scans, outpatient appointments to be booked online, and prescriptions to be transmitted electronically.