Urgent work needs to be done to improve the IT skills of hundreds
of thousands of NHS staff, according to a report from the NHS
Information Authority.
The annual survey of National Health Informatics Competency found
that most of the service's 500,000 clinical staff fail to meet the
recommended level of competency in basic computing, computer
systems and information management.
Martin Sotheran, head of delivery at the NHS Information Authority,
said, "Work still needs to be done to raise the basic understanding
of literally thousands of NHS staff."
The findings illustrate the enormous challenge facing the health
service to implement the Government's Information for Health
strategy by 2005, he added.
Information for Health, launched in 1998, is the Government's
long-term information strategy for the NHS. It includes life-long
electronic records for everyone in the UK and 24-hour online access
to patient records.