Suche
Mein Konto
Faulty IT infrastructure affects the NHS’s ability to deliver safe and effective care
Joe Zhang of Imperial College London and his colleagues point to a recent 10-day IT system outage at one of the largest hospital trusts in the NHS and warn that increasing digital transformation "means such outages are no longer just an inconvenience, but are fundamentally affecting our ability to deliver safe and effective care." They argue that unlike, for example, the procurement of electronic health records, investments in IT infrastructure (which includes computers, servers and networks) are rarely prioritized and are easily viewed as a cost to keep down rather than a productivity-enhancing investment. But the consequences are significant, they write. A recent NHS…
Faulty IT infrastructure affects the NHS’s ability to deliver safe and effective care
Joe Zhang of Imperial College London and his colleagues point to a recent 10-day IT system outage at one of the largest hospital trusts in the NHS and warn that increasing digital transformation "means such outages are no longer just an inconvenience, but are fundamentally affecting our ability to deliver safe and effective care."
They argue that unlike, for example, the procurement of electronic health records, investments in IT infrastructure (which includes computers, servers and networks) are rarely prioritized and are easily viewed as a cost to keep down rather than a productivity-enhancing investment.
But the consequences are significant, they write. A recent survey of NHS clinicians commissioned by NHS England shows that user experiences with electronic health records are generally poor, due to unreliable, slow IT.
The British Medical Association (BMA) estimates that a significant proportion (27%) of NHS clinicians lose more than four hours a week due to inefficient IT systems. The BMA report also found shortcomings in investment and a lack of engagement from doctors in procurement.
Outdated infrastructure poses a risk to data security, they add. It is unclear how many providers are adhering to national guidelines by maintaining multiple backups of data, including offsite.
There is also a growing disconnect between government messaging promoting a digital future for healthcare (including artificial intelligence) and the lived experience of clinical staff dealing with persistent IT issues on a daily basis.
“This digital future will not be realized without more attention being paid to crumbling IT infrastructure and poor user experiences,” they write.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution but the NHS can learn from approaches taken elsewhere, they say. For example, in the United States, the impact of health IT on end users is an active area of research, particularly how the functionality of IT systems affects physician burnout and effectiveness, while federal oversight of health IT infrastructure can identify problems and coordinate a response.
To facilitate IT infrastructure transformation in the NHS, “we need systematic and transparent measurement of IT capabilities and functionality at the level of clinicians – the people who actually use the systems,” they explain, “as well as at the level of those procuring the systems.”
Armed with this understanding, quality improvement cycles must become routine in IT governance, as they are in clinical care, and government must provide the necessary investment to identify and correct poor performance, but also add accountability with minimum standards of IT function and stability.
“We cannot tolerate IT infrastructure problems as usual,” they conclude.
"Poorly functioning IT systems are a clear and present threat to patient safety, which also limits the potential for future transformative investment in healthcare. Urgent improvements are an NHS priority."
Source:
Reference:
Zhang, J., et al. (2022) Faulty IT infrastructure undermines safe healthcare in the NHS. BMJ. doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-073166.
.