NHS IT staff call for Programme details

Health service IT staff are broadly positive about the aims of the government's £2.3bn National Programme but need more clarity around how it will work in practice.

Nearly half of NHS IT workers believe the plan will deliver benefits, according to a survey from the Association for ICT Professionals in Health and Social Care (Assist) and the Health Service Journal.

Nearly four-fifths of respondents support the Local Service Provider (LSP) concept for delivering the programme and 81 per cent feel it has the backing of NHS senior management.

'There have been a lot of adverse headlines but we found that generally speaking there is support for the National Programme - the majority of people recognise things needed to change and this way is as good as any,' said Assist chairman Tony Eardley.

But concerns remain. Some 77 per cent said there was not enough local capacity to deliver the programme, mainly due to planning, funding and human resources issues. Half do not believe their budgets will be sufficient to meet the requirements of the programme. And 76 per cent would be unhappy at the possibility of transferring to work for a private sector supplier.

Funding questions can be addressed by better communication, but the employment issue needs serious debate, says Eardley.

'We have been specifically told that existing IT services will not be within the remit of the LSPs. But there is still uncertainty about how that will happen in practice. This is a more complex issue than we have yet had the chance to debate, and only with that debate will we achieve the clarity we need,' he said.

A better communications policy at the centre would help overcome concerns amongst NHS IT staff, says Eardley.

'We need a more proactive communication policy from the National Programme office. Strategic Health Authority information officers have been overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do to support the National Programme and because of that some of trickle down of information maybe isn't as effective as it should be,' he said.