A national electronic record of patients’ health looks finally on the cards – five years late – after the NHS IT programme on Thursday changed the way patients will give their consent to the system.

Providing a brief, summary electronic patient record has been a key driver for the £12bn ($22bn) NHS IT programme, which will create a detailed, local electronic record as well as the shorter one available nationally, providing doctors with recent medical history, medications and allergies in an emergency or out of hours.