05.07.17
Digital doldrums: NHS remains world’s largest purchaser of fax machines
The NHS is the world’s largest purchaser of fax machines and its use technology is seriously lagging behind, a report has revealed.
In the review commissioned by DeepMind Health (DMH) researchers also said that “the digital revolution has largely bypassed the NHS”.
Another striking finding in the report included that clinicians were now being forced to “manufacture their own technical fixes” including using camera apps like Snapchat to send sensitive patient scans to one another.
“The digital revolution has largely bypassed the NHS, which, in 2017, still retains the dubious title of being the world’s largest purchaser of fax machines,” the report chaired by former Liberal Democrat MP Dr Julian Huppert stated. “Many records are insecure paper-based systems which are unwieldy and difficult to use.
“Seeing the difference that technology makes in their own lives, clinicians are already manufacturing their own technical fixes,” the report continued. “They may use SnapChat to send scans from one clinician to another or camera apps to record particular details of patient information in a convenient format.
“It is difficult to criticise these individuals, given that this makes their job possible. However, this is clearly an insecure, risky, and non-auditable way of operating, and cannot continue.”
The researchers also went on to say progress had been slow as digital solutions had been laid on top of hundreds of ageing IT systems.
It was reported that on average, most NHS trusts had around 160 different computer systems in operation in their organisation.
Today’s news also comes after the ICO ruled that the Royal Free NHS FT’s transferral of patient data to Google DeepMind was unlawful. The data was being used to develop an alert, diagnosis and detection app for acute kidney failure.
NHE has contacted NHS Digital for comment.
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