NHS staff 'feel unprepared for digital transformation'

A survey of frontline NHS workers has found that almost two-thirds (61%) feel they are unprepared for the digital transformation plans laid out in the government's new 10-Year Plan for the NHS.

The top reason for that pessimistic viewpoint is workforce pressures, with almost all (96%) of the 97 chief information officers, chief clinical information officers, and GPs polled saying that strains on staffing are preventing digital progress.

Other factors likely to hold back the national digital commitments are the rising demand on services – reported by 29% of respondents – along with insufficient workforce budget (21%), burnout and wellbeing pressures (13%), and difficulties retaining experienced staff (12%).

All told, just 1% of the survey population said they felt fully prepared for the digital transformation delivery expectations in the 10-Year Plan. And only 28% said they are confident in being able to deliver the refinements to the NHS App, which is being positioned as the 'digital front door' to accessing NHS services, with functions such as managing appointments, bookings, and medications, as well as offering advice and care.

Many described their organisation's digital readiness as "poor", "chaotic", "immature", and "patchy", and expressed concerns that ongoing organisational restructuring and shrinking digital teams do not reflect the growing skills and capacity required.

"We are being asked to deliver more digital change than ever, but teams are exhausted. There is no protected time and no capacity to take on new digital tasks when clinical demand keeps rising," according to Thomas Mickleright, a GP and digital transformation clinical lead for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.

Among other findings, preparedness stands at 36% for delivering the single patient record objective laid out in the plan, and at 32% for the proposed federated data platform for de-identified patient information that can be used in research projects.

Confidence falls even further, to just 16%, for achieving the target of allocating 3% of annual spend to digital transformation.

"These findings underline what many of us see every day. Workforce pressures are now the biggest barrier to digital progress," said Dr Paul Jones, chief digital information officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

"If we are to achieve the proposed shift from analogue to digital and for these national programmes to really succeed, expectation must be matched with capacity, capability, and protected time for teams to deliver change safely."

The shift towards a digital NHS is one part of the 10-Year Plan, along with a greater emphasis on community, rather than hospital-based care, and illness prevention, rather than treatment.

The survey was carried out by Digital Health, which runs the annual Digital Health Rewired conference that is due to take place next March at the NEC in Birmingham.