Sixty per cent of NHS managers believe there has not been
enough consultation on the national programme for IT, according to
new research.
A survey of more than 200 NHS managers and management consultants
in the health sector revealed that 28% thought they had not been
consulted at all about the £2.3bn national programme, and 32% said
they should have had more opportunity to be involved in the
process.
In addition 25% said the planned changes to NHS processes were
insufficient
"A lot of people wanted more consultation. They want more power at
a local level, because they know what the processes are," said
Fiona Czerniawska, director of the Management Consultancies
Association, which carried out the research.
"If people are not sure what is going on, they do not feel engaged
and the more likely they are to resist change," she said.
There was also a perception among managers that in its inception
the national programme did not have enough knowledge of local
business processes within the NHS, Czerniawska said.
"The programme is between a rock and a hard place. It cannot
consult everybody, but if it does not consult enough people, they
feel disenchanted. You need a critical mass."
Speaking to an NHS select committee last month, health minister
John Hutton said, "I am amazingly confident in the quality of the
people I have working on this programme, both in terms of IT and in
people management."
Phil Kenmore, head of healthcare consulting at the Hay Group, who
contributed to the report, said business processes in the NHS were
different compared to those in the private sector.
"Managers in a private company have more direct control of the
resources around them, but an NHS manager works in a complex
environment with multiple stakeholders, where influencing skills
are much more important.
"You can have as much money as you want, but if you don't have the
people leadership you need, even the most brilliantly-designed
processes will fall over - and fall over very quickly," he
said.
Although the managers surveyed thought communication from the
national programme to local NHS staff could improve, most were
optimistic about the goals of delivering electronic patient
records, electronic prescribing, a new infrastructure and an
appointment booking system.
Of those surveyed, 91% said the programme would improve efficiency
of patient care.