The Royal Brompton Hospital needed to update systems for clinical coding, the production of discharge summary letters and bronchoscopy reporting. The Trust considered several web-based solutions but chose an XML based solution from Graphnet; this enabled a fast implementation, whilst also recognising the longer-term benefits of an XML based solution. The benefits were the ability to capture and analyse clinical information, something that had never been possible before. This has major implications for research activity and clinical governance, both areas of critical importance in developing healthcare in the UK.