CCIOs key to addressing knowledge gap

Appointing a chief clinical information officer is the best way to address the knowledge gap in NHS trusts about the clinical and cost benefits of implementing IT systems, a new survey suggests.

An HSJ survey asked 419 health and health IT professionals whether the NHS leadership community’s lack of IT knowledge undermines health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s ambition for a paperless NHS by 2018 and 91% of respondents said yes.

Only 10% agreed that trusts have the required market insight and skills to buy the right IT systems to deliver the paperless agenda.

In answer to the question, ‘what needs to be done to address the knowledge gap?’, 49% of respondents suggested the appointment of a CCIO to champion clinical IT and clinical engagement.

EHI has been running a campaign to have a CCIO appointed to every trust, which has been endorsed by NHS England. There are around 60 CCIOs already in post.

Other possible responses endorsed by respondents included mandated extra training for senior board level managers, commissioners and senior clinicians and the appointment of a group of trust chief executives as ‘IT champions’ to “spread good practice across the region”.

Less than one third of those surveyed thought Hunt’s target for a paperless NHS by 2018 was realistic, while 88% thought it was a “great ambition”.

Other problems preventing the adoption of IT included the board’s lack of understanding about different options, issues with capacity in IT departments and lack of choice in the market.