A new IT system that allows military medical records to be accessed across the UK, overseas and on the battlefield has been announced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and IT services company LogicaCMG.

At present, military medical records are held on non-networked computers or on paper. Service personnel may even have more than one record as they move between different locations during their career.

After a successful pilot scheme at two small sites at Chicksands and Waterbeach Medical Centres, the Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) is now being progressively rolled out to all UK army medical facilities, before being extended to the RAF, Royal Navy, Defence Dental Services and permanent overseas bases by August 2008.

After 2008, a version of the system will be available in field hospitals, on board ships and on the battlefield via laptops and other portable equipment under development.

It is hoped that this move will help aid diagnosis and improve and speed up treatment. The system will also allow casualties to be issued with a chip loaded with their health records as a back-up until they reach a military medical or NHS facility.

"The new system being launched today is all about improving the care and treatment of military personnel," said Derek Twigg, the Under Secretary of State for Defence.

"Doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals will now benefit from access to one central database, providing the most up-to-date information on their patients – it will not matter if they are in Birmingham or Basra. This is a truly 21st century way of working and a huge step change in medical care," said Twigg.

From 2010, the system will be connected to NHS information systems, simplifying and improving the processes by which service personnel gain access to treatment in NHS hospitals. It will also mean that the NHS medical records of new recruits can be imported directly into the Defence Medical Services and records can be exported back to civilian GPs on retirement.

"The Defence Medical Services are delighted with the achievements made by the DMICP programme so far. The ability to access patient records anywhere, anytime is an invaluable asset and the assurance of a single record for each patient will give medical staff greater confidence that when treating patients they are looking at a definitive record," said Lt Gen Robert Baxter, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Health).

DMICP will enable the MoD to generate detailed, accurate information on the health of the Armed Forces as well as help identify patterns of illnesses and the outcome of medical treatment.

The MoD awarded the £80m contract for the IT component of DMICP to LogicaCMG in 2006 after a competitive tender. The system will incorporate the EMIS clinical information tool used by 55 per cent of NHS GPs, and the reporting tool Cognos.