When reviewing the latest trends from the blog of my colleague Roy Lilley (through his blog NHSManagers.Net), I am amazed that the same issues have been recurring since my early days as a consultant with the UK Health sector in the 1990’s.
A few of the highlights in previous weeks include:
- “The NHS is effectively broke.”
- Cut costs, fill only essential vacancies
- Consider the financial impact of managing waiting lists
- The secret to change is to make people feel they are in charge. People don’t like change “Done to them”
I keep wondering how I can do my bit to help. Our team has an excellent track record of helping NHS Trusts. However, it is alarming that I continue to see common threads which lead to NHS IT system failures, which seem to repeat past mistakes.
The Need for IT Specialists to Prevent NHS IT system failures.
One of the themes of the failures that I see most regularly is Trusts trying to design, implement and fix complex IT issues in-house. This rarely delivers the most efficient solution in terms of performance or cost. Conversely, it often has a debilitating effect on the Trust’s IT infrastructure.
For example, I wouldn’t go to a Doctor/NHS Trust/Dentist/Vet who had not been properly trained, and who did not have a demonstrable track record in successfully treating my ailment. Yet at the same time these organisations are quite willing to cut costs and try to do IT themselves.
Experience proves that each party, i.e., Trusts should focus on their core business, “Healthcare”, and bring in trusted advisers/integrators to do their bit to help streamline their business processes with an ‘outside in’ perspective.
Leveraging our unique AMOBI methodology, VIP Apps Consulting relies upon our experience and delivery relationships that de-risk implementing new solutions. Therefore, to avoid repeating mistakes of the past, NHS Trusts must look to bring in the right expertise to prevent issues down the line.
