Jeremy Bradshaw-Smith: GP who pioneered computerised medical records and is thought to have produced the world’s first printed prescription

In November 1975 Jeremy Bradshaw-Smith, a GP in the small Devon town of Ottery St Mary, is thought to have achieved a world first when he gave a patient a computer printed prescription, rather than the usual handwritten note to be deciphered by the pharmacist.

While the practice was not the first in the UK to use a computer—this crown was taken by fellow Devon GP John Preece in 19701—Bradshaw-Smith and his three partners were certainly in the vanguard of the technological revolution.

The seeds were planted a few years earlier when the practice was asked to take part in a government funded morbidity survey. It was suggested that the study be carried out on computers—“at that time a daring concept,” Bradshaw-Smith wrote.2

The initial idea was that the doctors would write two records during consultations, one for themselves and another for the computer analysts who would convert the doctor’s note into numerical codes to enter into a computer.

Bradshaw-Smith and his partners agreed to cooperate but “on our terms, which were starkly different.” They wanted to write their own notes directly onto the computer to avoid duplication—a problem that had stymied previous attempts at general practice computerisation.

The GPs and computer experts, who were also designing records for the local hospital and public health authority, got together to come up with a coding system.

A data centre was built in the grounds of the …