The interim CEO of NHS Digital has said that there are too many differing technology systems in play across the NHS.
Simon Bolton was speaking at the Westminster Health Forum and said that since joining the organisation, he had been struck by the “absolute spectrum” of systems being deployed to tackle the same problems.
He specifically flagged the number of electronic patient record systems (EPRs) in use across the NHS, as well as main hospital systems.
He said that when there were perhaps 60 different EPRs being used by health trusts, this could cause variabilities across the system.
He also said that it affected interoperability and diluted the level of experience that can be built.
Bolton said that he was not calling for a second National Programme for IT (NPfIT), however.
The first programme was introduced in 2002 in an attempt to reform the way that the NHS managed information in England.
This involved mandating certain EPRs for NHS trusts to use, and while some parts of the project were successful, others – such as delivering detailed systems for care records – were not.
The NPfIT was eventually dismantled, with the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition of the day declaring that it was not fit to provide the modern IT services that the NHS needs.
Suppliers should be reduced to a “more manageable” number
Bolton said that he believed that trusts should have a choice, but that this choice should be between a “more manageable” number of providers.
Using secondary care as an example, he said that he believed that using between four and six EPRs across the country over the next 10 to 15 years would be ideal.
He said that this would allow the NHS to build strong commercial relationships with suppliers that would enable it to build expertise into the systems and get the products and services it expects.
As for the timescale, he said that it would be a “generational change”, adding that many trusts had already spent millions on existing systems.
He said that the first step would be identifying the products and services needed in the future before mandating the solutions that could be used.
Bolton took over as interim CEO in June 2021 and is set to depart the role when NHS Digital merges with NHS England in January 2023.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
Read more of our latest Industry Updates news stories
