Abstract
The concept that patient records in UK hospitals should be computerized can be traced back at least to the Hospital Information Support Systems Programme of 1988. Since that time it has undergone a series of transformations of scope and terminology and a number of successful projects have been implemented at the local level. Despite the potentially important role of such records in visions for the modern NHS, however, their adoption is still restricted to a relatively small number of sites and limited progress has so far been made towards the achievement of national level electronic records. This article describes the evolution of the electronic record concept, in the acute hospital sector, over the past 15 years and offers some possible explanations for the lack of significant progress and its implications for the future.