NHS must make better use of technology

The NHS needs to make better use of IT

The NHS needs to make more use of modern technology used every day by consumers, according to an influential health sector think tank.

The King's Fund says in two new reports that the NHS has been slow to adopt technologies that are already in widespread use elsewhere, citing the financial services and travel industries as examples the health sector should copy.

"Even well-established technologies, such as email and the internet, are not being used routinely in the NHS to help patients - for example, with booking GP appointments, receiving routine test results, viewing medical records or having online consultations," said the organisation in a statement.

Alasdair Liddell, a senior associate at The King's Fund and co-author of the Technology in the NHS report said that the NHS is not even using technology that most people take for granted.

"Consumers are accustomed to using technology in their daily lives – 17 million people bank online and 55 per cent of internet users book their holidays online," he said.

"Yet new technologies, and even basic ones, are not embedded in the health service. Consumers are increasingly expecting to use technology in their health care."

The King's Fund identified three main barriers to better use of technology in the NHS:

Lack of resources: "A lack of funding to invest in new technology, coupled with a lack of staff, has restricted the implementation of new technologies," said the think tank's report.

Lack of incentives: "There are few incentives in place to encourage clinicians to adopt new technologies and change the way patients receive their care – for example, there is no incentive to establish direct email access between patients and their GPs."

Lack of leadership: "The Department of Health has failed to provide clear, consistent and sustained leadership on the use of technology in the NHS. This is reflected in the number of different organisations with an innovation or technology remit, without any clarity about who is responsible for what," it said.

The NHS has to change its attitudes to technology, according to Anna Dixon, director of policy at The King's Fund.

"The patient of the future, especially people with chronic illnesses like diabetes, will demand the use of technologies that make it much easier and more convenient for them to receive the care and treatment they need," she said.

"Professional attitudes will need to change and the NHS will need to rethink how it interacts with patients and redesigns services around the needs of patients."

The NHS is in the midst of a controversial £12bn IT overhaul – the National Programme for IT – which aims to make electronic patient records available across the country. But the project focuses on internal NHS systems, rather than using technology to interact better with patients.