HUNDREDS of thousands of Gwent patients' health records will be rehoused and computer-scanned through a near-£1 million modernisation plan.

A centralised storage base will be developed at Cleppa Park, Newport, in a project designed to end confusion over duplication and unavailibility of records.

Such problems result in cancelled appointments, unnecessary follow-ups, and repeated diagnostic tests, while the absence or partial absence of a record can create clinical risks for patients and their doctors.

Records storage at hospitals such as the Royal Gwent, St Woolos, County and Caerphilly District Miners is becoming more difficult, and with patients often attending appointments at more than one site, records are increasingly duplicated, or relevant details are not available at the right time or location.

The need for a single, central base has become acute with the impending opening of the new Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, designed to receive health records electronically, to reduce reliance on paper.

Caerphilly District Miners Hospital will close when Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr opens, and 90,000 records must be rehoused.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board is proposing a two-phase scheme, costing £981,146.

Phase one involves unification of records in the Cleppa Park base, destruction of non-current or archived records, and restructuring of the remainder so they can be turned into digital form.

The aim is to create an efficient, rapid retrieval system, increasing confidentiality and security while reducing the likelihood of records going missing.

Phase two involves scanning records using an IT system that can deliver them in a usable form for doctors, on a priority basis, with outpatient records given precedence due to the high volume of such patients.

The system will enable current or active health records to be digitised first, and also allow the records of patients with more than one appointment on the same day to be transferred by computer between sites and departments.