By Tim Ferguson, 24 October 2008 14:14
NEWS
The NHS is lagging behind other industries when it comes to using technology.
That's the verdict of the independent health think tank, The King's Fund, which says the NHS could do more to help members of the public access the care they require.
A King's Fund report said well-established tech like the internet and email aren't being routinely used to provide services such as appointment booking, sending out routine test results and viewing medical records.
Co-author of the Technology in the NHS report, Alasdair Liddell, said people expect to use tech to access healthcare in the same way as they use online banking and book holidays online.
The NHS, however, has some web successes: the well-established web appointment booking services, Choose and Book has been running since 2004.
As well as suggesting everyday technologies could be better used, the report also looks at how more sophisticated tech - such as videoconferencing - could be used for consultations and virtual visits for hospital patients.
The King's Fund also suggests there are barriers to the NHS taking up new technologies, including a lack of resources and a lack of incentives for clinicians to take up new tech, as well as a lack of leadership.
Technology leadership is an area the NHS has recently addressed with the appointments in August of a new CIO for Health and a director of programme and system delivery for the NHS's tech agency Connecting for Health.
As well as strong national leadership the King's Fund also recommends the NHS strengthens its partnerships with the tech industry and use the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to make sure trialled tech is adopted by the mainstream.
Comments
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1. anonymous
Once again people are assuming that everbody has access to the internet and e-mail and if they do, that they actually use it on a regular basis.
As one with any knowledge knows, you shouldn't put anything in an e-mail that you wouldn't be prepared to put on the back of a postcard, so having private appointments for potentially quite personnal issues sent out on open e-mails is something I never want to see.
2. Roger Huffadine
When will some basic common sense be used by these people who constantly want to shove technology down our throats?
You cannot make a worthwhile assessment of a person's condition over a video link - even our broadcast companies can't get a uniform colour balance on their pictures. "Oh Mr Jones you look a bit off colour today" - "No Doc honest I feel fine"...
The web, e-mail and the like are non real time communication channels which makes mis-communication more likely and makes the correction of errors much more difficult.
Handling e-mails costs 6 to 12 times more than talking to someone - because most staff just do not type at 100 wpm.
I have sat with a consultant who could hardly find the letters on the keyboard - I wanted to grab the keyboard and say "just dictate to me"
The NHS is one of the last places where IT should be used, if at all, and then only sparingly because on health matters person to person communication, face to face, works best.
3. anonymous
Had the author actually researched the story he may have stumbled upon NHS Choices - www.nhs.uk - where there is a great deal of 'technology' already in use.