The Connecting for Health NHS IT programme risks failure because local staff feel disengaged, according to a British Medical Journal (BMJ) study published on 5 August 2005. While the report's authors praise the IT programme as it "promises far reaching benefits for patients and throughout the NHS", they find that front line staff "feel heavily demoralised" about the scheme.
The BMJ report examines how well the programme is being implemented at four hospital trusts in England. It finds that managers think there has been so little communication and consultation from the programme's headquarters that it poses a threat to getting the £6bn scheme up and running.
Researchers chose the hospitals according to size, financial health, and star ratings. They spoke to 23 senior managers and clinical staff involved in putting the IT programme in place in their hospitals.
The report finds uncertainty amongst staff about when IT systems would be implemented in hospitals, and what funding would be provided to support this at a local level. This uncertainty is deterring trusts from getting on with implementing local support systems, says the report.
Some trusts reported that local, existing IT systems for radiology and pathology urgently needed replacing, but these have been put on hold as implementation of the programme is phased in across the country. "Such delay may mean a risk of system failure, but buying a temporary solution is seen as costly", the researchers say.
Many participants think that challenges arising from local circumstances are not understood or are ignored – leaving them feeling "disempowered, and uncertain" about how to promote a system without detailed information about its local application.
As the implementation of the programme will mean "considerable disruption for staff and difficult interim arrangements", this is a crucial problem, say the researchers.
Staff have shown a willingness to overcome the technical problems of getting Connecting for Health working, say the researchers, but it's time the headquarters engaged with managers and health professionals to implement the programme. Connecting for Health's success depends on it, they conclude.
Quelle: KableNET, 05.08.2005
