- Smart Healthcare, Wednesday 2 December 2009 14.09 GMT
The move from the London trust's old patient administration system (PAS) began on Friday 27 November 2009, with the move to the new Care Record Service (CRS) software, part of the NHS National Programme for IT, taking place over the weekend.
Out-patients was the last area to be connected on the morning of 30 November, the trust said – the government's deadline for suppliers to make "significant progress".
Kate Grimes, Kingston's chief executive, said she was pleased with progress so far. "Our CRS command centre is a hive of activity, with the teams there solving minor technical glitches with the transfer of data between our old PAS and CRS," she said.
She also said that patients had responded well to the new system. "We've taken time to ensure that they know we are doing something new, and explaining that it might take us a little longer to get to grips with the new system," Grimes said. "We've had staff out talking to patients, handing out letters and flyers with information on them – and a free cup of tea!"
"This is good timing, just three days before NHS chief information officer Christine Connelly's end of November deadline for suppliers to make 'significant progress' with the CRS," said Victor Almeida, a senior analyst at Kable.
Kingston is the first trust to successfully launch the CRS system since Royal Free Hampstead's delayed implementation in June last year.
Introduction of CRS, to enable NHS professionals to access patient records across England, has suffered a number of setbacks. It was due to start in 2004, along with other elements of the programme.
