ABSTRACT
When looking at our local journey in health informatics over the last 14 years, it is important to understand the context within which we have operated.
The old North Staffordshire Health Authority had, at its heart, the sprawling towns composing the industrial city of Stoke-on-Trent. The city had a high level of single-handed GPs among a scattering of larger practices. It is surrounded by a rural area stretching 40 miles across, from the Shropshire borders to the highest village in England at Flash, and 20 miles deep, from the Cheshire plains to the edge of Ashbourne. Small market towns, such as Leek and Cheadle, form satellite health communities with three-to four-handed practices, with remoter rural practices around the edge.
