Thousands of NHS staff hours will be freed up with the help of a new investment into frontline technology.
One of the major technology frustrations the NHS staff are facing, is slow login times. £40 million will be provided by the government to fund new and better solutions.
There are up to 15 different computer system programmes some staff need to login to when tending to patients. Not only is this extremely time consuming, but staff need to remember different passwords, or they use the same passwords which could potentially be a cybersecurity risk.
The NHS staff will have more time to spend on patients and ease some of the administrative burdens they currently face.
Projects like at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, will be funded by the investment. The project reduced time spent used to log into different computer systems by implementing a single sign-on technology. More than 130 hours of staff time was saved , as they used to login up to 5,000 times a day.
The “logins project” will focus on 3 areas. They will implement standardised logins and provide finger print access instead of password-led logins. Trusts will be required to give staff access permissions for the various systems in order to treat their patients.
Local and national systems will also be integrated so that staff can have access to the full scope of clinical and workforce systems so their needs can be supported.
The gap between social care and the NHS will be gapped with a further £4.5 million. These funds will be given to the local authorities and be used to develop projects focusing on digital adult social care projects. Some of the initiatives include using artificial intelligence sensors to establish normal behavioural patterns and alerting carers when needed.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“I want to harness the best digital technology to improve care for patients and ease the burden on our staff. And to do that, we need to get the basics right. Too often, outdated technology slows down and frustrates staff, and prevents them from giving patients their full attention and the care they deserve.
“It is frankly ridiculous how much time our doctors and nurses waste logging on to multiple systems. As I visit hospitals and GP practices around the country, I’ve lost count of the amount of times staff complain about this. It’s no good in the 21st century having 20th century technology at work. This investment is committed to driving forward the most basic frontline technology upgrades, so treatment can be delivered more effectively and we can keep pace with the growing demand on the NHS.”
Chief Executive of NHSX, Matthew Gould, said:
If you work in the NHS, the tech should not be getting in the way of your ability to do your job. Tech should be something you rarely think about because it just works. Today’s announcements mean we can start to tackle one of the biggest gripes staff have with their tech. It will allow staff across the NHS to spend more time with their patients and less time fighting their computers.”
Article link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/40-million-investment-to-reduce-nhs-staff-login-times
