NHS staff 'demoralised' about new IT scheme

Friday, 5 August 2005 12:00 AM

The government's multi-million pound new IT scheme for the NHS is being put at risk because of a lack of staff support, a new study finds.

The National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT) aims to create a centralised patient record that can be accessed from anywhere in England, as well as introduce electronic appointment booking and the electronic transmission of prescriptions.

A report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says the scheme "promises far-reaching benefits for patients and throughout the NHS", but warns a lack of engagement by frontline staff threatens to derail the whole process.

Concerns have previously been raised about the technical viability of such a large project, but today's report suggests the NPfIT scheme must look to another challenge, that of lack of support from within the NHS.

"NPfIT headquarters should urgently revisit its priorities, managing the changes in working practices in addition to the technical challenges," it says.

"The NPfIT is likely to succeed or fail according to the groundswell of opinion, as well as its technical performance."

An examination of four hospital trusts in England found staff were "heavily demoralised" about the project, with managers feeling isolated from NPfIT headquarters.

It urges greater efforts to ensure managers and health professionals support and understand a scheme which is likely to cause them "considerable disruption".

In addition, despite the government having invested an additional £2.3 billion for the scheme in 2002, the study finds uncertainty about when NPfIT systems will be implemented.

This in turn is holding up local projects. For example, trusts were waiting to replace existing IT systems for radiology and pathology until NPfIT is implemented.

"Such delay may mean a risk of system failure, but buying a temporary solution is seen as costly," the report says.

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