IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN A HOSPITAL TRUST (TRUST) OF UK NHS

Implementing Information Systems In A Hospital Trust (Trust) Of UK NHS



Implementing Information Systems in A Hospital Trust (Trust) Of UK NHS

Introduction

For nearly two decades, the NHS has absorbed a series of major changes. It is within this strategy for meeting modernization objectives within the NHS that the NPfIT is being implemented. Although we are now more than halfway through the 10 year programme of IS overhaul and upgrade which began with the NHS Plan in July 2000, the research was initiated at a time of major change within the NHS. (Bowns, 2007) The government intends that the NPfIT change programme will bring modern computer systems into the NHS to improve patient care and services. Over the next decade, it is expected to give patients and healthcare professionals access to their personal health and care information, thus transforming the way the NHS works. To support this change, effective and rigorous IS introduction structures and processes are being put into place and developed. This process has been set up by the NHS and outside agencies to drive and manage ambitious and challenging targets in terms of the purchase of systems and services. It will also ensure that the resulting products and services will be implemented at a local level and that the ultimate benefits to patients and the NHS will be delivered through local ownership and changed working practices. The NHS is a phenomenally large and complex organization. It has a budget of £96 billion for 2006-07 and employs over a million staff, making it the largest organization in Europe and the third largest in the world. In terms of complexity, it provides around 2 million consultations and approximately 10 million clinical decisions each day. The NHS has a complex structure. Responsibility in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland belongs to the devolved administrations, while in England the government through the Department of Health is politically responsible for NHS operations, which are run by the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs). (Ash, 2004)

Discussion

The NHS is characterized by constantly changing and evolving non-linear relationships, structures and interfaces which are often diffi cult to determine. Central to this change within the NHS is the softening of traditional professional boundaries and the increased use of improved technology and service redesign, which will underpin its ability to share high-quality information effectively between teams and organizations to provide safer patient-led care. Based on this, it is safe to assume that change is not new to the service and a number of major reorganizations have characterized it since its inception. Moreover, the pace and intensity of the changes have left NHS managers with little time for consolidation or reflection. (Chapman, 2004) To be able to operate in such a fluid and dynamic environment, the NHS requires accurate information to carry out its functions. It is therefore essential that the NHS sees information technology and systems (IS&T) as the key to support the provision of this ...