The British Medical Association has called for greater
clinician involvement in the national programme for NHS
IT.
John Powell, chairman of the BMA’s committee for IT, said,
"Doctors working ‘at the coalface’ have not been adequately
involved in the programme to improve the NHS IT infrastructure.
"Evaluation needs not only to demonstrate value for money for
taxpayers, but also to offer clinicians improved, usable
systems."
The BMA statement came as MP Richard Bacon, a member of
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, wrote to the National Audit
Office to highlight inadequate consultation over the £2.3bn
national programme for IT. The government’s public spending
watchdog is already studying aspects of the national programme.
Bacon’s letter was prompted by publicity about the resignation
of Peter Hutton as chairman of the National Clinical Advisory
Board, which was set up to listen to health staff and shape the way
the national programme develops in partnership with technical
experts.
Hutton, chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, is
reported to have said that the advisory board remains concerned
about the level of clinical engagement in the programme.
In his letter, Bacon said, "The national programme for IT in the
NHS has failed to consult users adequately and has studiously
avoided redesigning business processes in parallel with the new
technology - thereby ignoring various NAO and PAC
recommendations."
Bacon was referring to plans for the Department of Health to
begin going live with major systems this summer, before changes in
business processes have been agreed nationally or locally.
Responding to the concerns, a spokesman for the national
programme said clinicians had an input into the project to ensure
the specification reflected clinical best practice. "We have
contracted the suppliers to put the tested systems into a ‘model
community’ in each cluster, to be tested in a simulated clinical
environment that enables working practices to be trialled alongside
the systems as well as the training material and guidance," he
said.
The programme promised to work closely with clinicians on the
design of the clinical processes that will be supported by the
systems to ensure quality and safety improvements are built into
all aspects of the IT systems.
The Department of Health announced last week that it would be
"reviewing the formal arrangements for engaging the NHS, patients
and other stakeholders in order to support the effective
implementation of the national programme for IT".