Question

tely $1.5 ton) in the papers at tro the c th and care budgets o mment by a Public Accounts Committee ( PAC) recently said that changes made toward s tem ot gone to plan," and some are saying it has been an expensive waste of time for a ration, going paperless is a challenge, but when it is cash strapped and under inte has a dismal history of IT failure including unsuccessful earlier efforts to dig at the looks like mission impossible, observes Michael Cross, news editor at The Law Society Gate. Can the alth service meet that deadline? Or will the NHS just end up with less paper than it when the pages oject started? QUESTIONS 1. Why is papeless NHS a risky project? Identify the key risk factors. 2. What management, organization, and technology problems is the paperless NHS Wkely to encounter 3. What steps should be taken to make the paperless NHS more successful? Question 1 Why is paperless NHS a risky project? Identify Seven (7) key risk factors of the project. (34 Marks) Question 2 What Six (6) management, organization, and technology problems is the paperless NHS likely to encountert (3 Marks) Question 3 Identify Nine (9) Critical success factors for successful implementation of a paperless health services in Ghana? (36 Marks)

Answer 1

1.

A project a complex as creating a paperless NHS is not something that can be rushed or done in a short amount of time. Many experts believe that the window which the NHS would like to become paperless is not possible; it is an extremely ambitious goal but not a realistic goal. As the NHS is made up of hundreds of separate organizations, thousands of private GP’s which all differ in the level of their understanding of IT and the sophistication of their IT equipment. To integrate a change on this level, hardware and software that is not compatible with the new program must be replaced and mandatory training for doctors and their staff must be organized; even while it is known that the time of a doctor is precious and giving up many hours of a work day to be trained on how to use the new IT program brings the question is it worth the time? However, according to the British Medical Association, the most significant challenges that need to be overcome for the NHS to be paperless by their target year of 2018 boil down to funding and resources.

2.

            A change towards a paperless NHS would encounter many different types of problems from the management of maintaining the paperless systems to the technology providing the system. When it comes to the management and organizational problems that the paperless NHS will encounter, the resources required to provide/maintain/support these systems on such a large scale. Some argue that although IT would potentially be a cause of increased efficiencies, the technology will not be creating the costs saving imagined by some. Regarding the problems that the NHS would likely face if paperless, again it has to do with the resources to provide and maintain new software and hardware for thousands. As mentioned earlier, this would require vast amounts of funds and resources to ensure high care quality service because of the sudden introduction of a change in policy would require education on the part of many parties.

3.

            In my opinion, to make an organization as significant as the NHS paperless the most important step would be to take time and not rush the process. Since the beginning of the modern age of medicine, paper was used to record information of the patient and everything else. As a result, it has been intertwined with the medical field, and there will be a severe pushback (as has been seen in the United States in the past and the UK right now) if the process is too quick and not organic. Policy makers should introduce aspects of IT in the medical field to ensure that medical organizations and independent GP’s are adjusting to the change well. For example, to require that all new patient records be as of 2018 recorded digitally or for referrals for visits to a specialist be emailed to the patient and the specialist; instead of using papers. This method allows the NHS to make small goals and achieve them, gaining the approval of the medical world and others; rather than (as is the case now) be criticized for not having a plan and being an ‘expensive waste of time’. I believe that small changes like this over time and organic implementation of IT proves to be more effective that a complete revamp of a system that has been in place for more than a century.