• Patients promised online access to their medical records by 2018
Today, The BMJ carries the news that England’s health secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged that all patients in England will be able to access and input into their own medical records from any location in the country by 2018. As part of an ambitious batch of pledges on new technologies in the NHS, Hunt also announced that a quarter of all smartphone users in England will be electronically accessing their medical records and booking appointments via their mobile device by 2018.
• UK government criticised over “confusing” fitness to work mortality figures
Matthew Limb reports that the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been accused by a leading academic of creating “confusion” with their response to freedom of information requests for data on deaths among people declared fit for work by the government.
• More European smokers are deciding not to quit, survey shows
The proportion of smokers in Europe who have no intention of quitting is increasing, according to new figures from the ongoing EUROASPIRE study, reported in Susan Mayor’s story. The new figures, reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, compared lifestyle, risk factors, and drug treatment in people at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease who were interviewed in 2006-08 and again in 2014-15.
Gareth Iacobucci is news reporter for The BMJ.