The GBP6.2bn National Program for IT (NPfIT) was set up to overhaul NHS organizations by providing technology that would enable both staff and patients to access electronic patient records across the country, issue prescriptions and book appointments. The project had set a deadline for completion of 2012.
According to research published in the British Medical Journal, however, some employees involved in the implementation are feeling cut off from the program.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine interviewed 23 senior clinical and non-clinical staff attempting to implement the program at four hospital trusts in England. They concluded that a lack of communication and consultation between staff and NPfIT officials was leading to confusion and was threatening the success of the program.
Staff are also angered by the fact that the plans for the IT program have taken priority over local, existing IT systems for radiology and pathology, which are in dire need of upgrading and replacing.
Although the UK government allocated an extra GBP 2.3bn to the project in 2002, the researchers claim that employees were experiencing doubts about the timescale of the project and were worried about the availability of funding. This may explain why some trusts seem to be delaying the implementation.
The research is the latest in a series of problems dogging the NPfIT. In January, a National Audit Office report suggested that staff were not completely behind the project and the electronic appointment tool had fallen behind schedule. Plans to implement an electronic medical records system has also been hit by concerns of patient privacy and security.
A program spokeswoman has said that a major communications campaign would begin soon, but it seems likely that the cynicism demonstrated within the UK medical community will not go away easily.
