The tools we give NHS staff puts them under incredible stress
With Omicron, COVID-19 cases are back on the rise and NHS burnout in England has reached emergency levels. It has been getting harder on the frontline for a long time, and the healthcare system is going through what is likely to be the most challenging winter in living history. At the time of writing, 24 NHS Trusts had declared critical incidents.
An NHS staffing crisis
Not only has the demand for care outstripped the number of health and social workers needed to provide it, a recent report has estimated that an extra 1.1 million staff will be needed to meet care demands by 2030 - a near 100% increase on the existing 1.3 million currently in the workforce.
The pandemic has depleted resources and led to a mass exodus of healthcare workers, and the volume and complexity of patients has evolved beyond sustainable levels. It’s now essential that decision makers - governmental and healthcare - put all hands on deck to save our NHS, support our workers, and give them the tools they need to make their job easier.
Tools have not evolved
Perhaps the biggest investment in digital healthcare this century has been creating electronic health record systems - the process of taking paper notes and digitising them. Unfortunately, this has yet to deliver the healthcare revolution that was promised and has absorbed huge amounts of investment and resources in its quest.
“Digitising paper”
In many cases, things got even worse for staff. Digitising records has often meant taking a folder of loose-leafed paper notes and scanning them, resulting in pages becoming incorrectly oriented, with data still not searchable or easily accessible to view on a mobile device at the point of care.
The unacceptable reality is that healthcare professionals are still using outdated technologies which are making their job harder and less efficient. Sadly, it doesn’t stop there.
Missing out on vital information
Outdated technologies are also affecting the coordination of handovers, meaning that vital information is at risk of being lost.
Paper forms and verbal sharing
Verbal, in person handover meetings are not a bad thing, but the time allocated for these is precious and shouldn’t be used to do basic admin. These meetings, as they currently stand, are often communicated through paper forms, printed Excel documents, or handwritten notes. Alternatively, they’re done over the phone where very little information is shared in real-time and is not securely stored, meaning it can be easily lost.
Why haven’t we digitised these processes?
In healthcare, vital processes haven’t changed in decades despite every other major industry embracing productivity tools. Even on an individual level, digital tools allow us to collaboratively manage our shopping lists better than doctors can coordinate care for their patients.
Not introducing digital healthcare solutions creates more risk
Healthcare is risk averse and decision-makers want to be sure that technology is cost efficient; it’s understandable why changing longstanding processes that carry a risk of life is slower than changing a shopping list app. However, we are at a point where not implementing solutions is introducing more risk to patient and staff welfare than maintaining the status quo, and is adding more cost in the long run.
What is the solution?
Fortunately, finding the solution isn’t a pipe dream - it’s here, now. Staff love using digital, and we’ve seen this firsthand when introducing Infinity across a number of NHS trusts. Staff are ready to embrace new digital tools, and have even been willing to occasionally bend governance rules as they did with WhatsApp usage at the beginning of the pandemic. But staff shouldn’t have to bend the rules when excellent solutions already exist - decision makers need to allow staff to benefit from them.
Tools that give time back to staff
Digital needs to be made a top priority in healthcare, especially now. The backlog is unprecedented, the workforce is more burnt out than ever, and the NHS is on its knees. Tools that give time back to staff and ensure the right thing is being done at the right time are critical to getting the NHS back on its feet.
About the Author
Elliott Engers
Elliott co-founded Infinity Health in 2014 following a conversation with an NHS doctor who was battling with the paper task lists and handwritten notes commonly used in hospitals to manage daily tasks. Elliott saw that this was a technical challenge a startup could really contribute to. He set out to make task management safer and more efficient whilst improving clinicians’ experience of their crucial, high-pressure roles; Infinity Health was born.
Elliott began his working life at Virgin Records – first in the post room and subsequently the UK marketing team. He moved on to run a digital agency, building websites and communities for media companies and running technical IT projects.
He brings his technical knowledge and skills, and love of technology, to Infinity Health, setting the direction and leading the team to deliver a platform that could improve the experience of every member of health and care staff.
