Millions of patients records transfered to Sefton

Apr 2 2008 by Aaron Boland, Liverpool Daily Post

MILLIONS of patients’ records stored in Merseyside have been transferred to an NHS Information Centre.

The 220m records stored at Smedley Hydro, Birkdale came under the control of the NHS yesterday.

The 151 staff, who maintain the NHS Central Register (NHSCR) will now be employed by the NHS Information Centre rather than the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Thought to be the largest person database in the country, the NHSCR keeps health records for every person in the UK even after they’ve died.

The Birkdale staff are responsible for ensuring all the records are up-to-date.

Smedley Hydro keeps 145m paper records and 75m electronically.