NHS IT: staff training will be a key factor

The logistics of training local NHS staff to use the £2.3bn National Programme IT systems need to be addressed as soon as possible, say health sector staff.

Training costs are to be met by local organisations but the practicalities of across-the-board training on new systems, and the resulting changes to working practices, remain unresolved.

The danger is that training requirements will be underestimated, said Jan Braithwaite, healthcare information co-ordinator at Croydon Primary Care Trust (PCT), at a Telewest Business roundtable event in London last week.

'Many staff on the ground, particularly on the community side, do not have the IT skills that seem to be assumed by the National Programme,' she said.

'The big problem is to get staff IT skills up to date to allow them to use the new technology or there is a danger new systems will be delivered but then not used. Suppliers will be fined for not delivering the systems but will never be penalised for staff not using them - that is the nub.'

Funding to replace staff during training has always been difficult to obtain and local NHS organisations need to start making arrangements now, says Braithwaite.

'When there is only one pot of gold it is quite hard to divide it up and replace staff being trained. There have got to be arrangements made within each organisation to ensure staff can be trained and that when they are doing so care for patients continues,' she said.

'Specialist staff acting as champions and working with staff to get their skills developed now would be part of the preparation for the National Programme, but that needs to start now and not wait for the systems to be implemented,' she added.

Richard Scowen, IT applications manager at Hounslow PCT, says a key area will be training for community health workers and district nurses.

'Culturally, organisations are happier to pay for locums to replace GPs and consultants away on training but have often never done the same for health workers, district nurses and so on,' he said.

A spokesman for the National Programme for NHS IT said: 'The programme is funded to provide the technology and it has never been the case that the it would directly fund the training of NHS staff.

'Detailed discussions are now being held between the National Programme and individual NHS organisations to determine and agree their local funding arrangements for implementation. Trusts are already expected to provide and fund training for healthcare staff on local systems so the situation is not changing.'

A survey of 1000 doctors by Medix UK shows broad support for the National Programme but a perceived lack of consultation. Three quarters of respondents said technology is an important priority and 66 per cent expressed fairly or very enthusiastic support. But 86 per cent said there had been inadequate consultation with them, which 88 per cent said was important.

• Services supplier EDS has withdrawn from the competition for the N3 broadband network, upgrading the existing NHSNet linking GPs and hospitals and providing the infrastructure to deliver the National Programme applications. BT and Cable & Wireless remain in the running for the deal, which is expected to be signed this month.

The five Local Service Providers (LSPs) contracted to implement the £2.3bn National Programme are engaged in a 60-day planning process to set out the proposed schedule for upgrading existing local systems and embedding the new technology. Discussions are underway locally to establish a clear picture of current systems. By laying out their priorities, local health communities are essentially bidding for implementation slots.

Under the delivery arrangements set out by the National Programme contracts, services offered by LSPs are split into three areas: core, additional and catalogue. Catalogue services are generic products such as printers and telephony and Trusts are free to buy either from the LSP or elsewhere as they choose. 'Additional' covers major systems such as radiology and Picture Archiving Communications Systems, and Trusts understand if they choose not to buy from their LSP they will have to make a convincing business case. The core systems category covers the electronic booking and care records systems at the heart of the National Programme.

Small and medium-sized businesses not yet involved in the programme are invited to contact major contractors via the Department of Health's National Programme office at industry.liaison@npfit.nhs.uk.