Under 50% of NHS staff receive basic EPR training
- 25 March 2026
- An NHS staff survey found that fewer than 50% of NHS staff had received basic EPR training
- Less than a third of respondents had received training on how to troubleshoot EPR problems
- Overall attitudes towards EPRs were positive with only 4% saying that they did not envision future benefits
Fewer than 50% of NHS staff using an electronic patient record system (EPR) received basic training on how to use it, according to research by the Health Foundation.
A survey of 1,725 NHS staff members in England, between July and October 2025, found that only 46% of staff using their organisation’s EPR system reported receiving training on its basics, and 49% reported receiving role-specific training.
Less than a third (28%) of respondents had received training on how to troubleshoot EPR problems, and 27% said that a lack of training was a key barrier to more effective use of EPR systems.
Alex Lawrence, improvement fellow at the Health Foundation, told Digital Health News: “Ensuring that staff have training on the basics of how to use their organisation’s EPR system is absolutely fundamental to getting more value from EPRs.
“Once this foundation is in place, organisations can start thinking about more complex training, on how to troubleshoot problems or use more advanced functionalities where greater benefits to productivity and care can be realised.”
The findings echo research published by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body in November 2025, which found that EPR training is often not sufficient to equip staff with the knowledge needed to use systems effectively, contributing to patient safety issues.
Staff optimism
On balance, the Health Foundation found that NHS staff surveyed were positive about the impact of EPRs in several areas and felt these systems are improving both patient care (75%) and patient safety (73%).
Most staff were optimistic about the potential benefits of EPRs, with only 4% saying that they did not envision the systems delivering benefits in the future.
However, 37% of staff felt that EPRs are not currently working well in their organisation, with survey respondents reporting that they have to use multiple EPR systems every day, a lack of real-time support and limited opportunities to give feedback on how they are working.
A majority of respondents said that their EPR system had added new tasks to their workload (64%), that some tasks now take longer (62%) and that it has made their work more difficult (53%).
The study’s authors said that several of the barriers to more effective EPR use identified in the survey could be addressed through ensuring that staff have better access to real-time support and that EPRs are better integrated into workflows.
“On the latter, respondents reported that EPR systems have added new tasks or made some tasks take longer.
“Improving the use of these systems will require greater attention to the design and implementation of new ways of working, ensuring EPRs reduce rather than add to the administrative burden,” the study says.
It also highlighted staff engagement as a critical factor in unlocking value from EPRs.
“While overall NHS staff perceptions of EPRs are positive, our survey suggests that issues around usability, training and support may be limiting the benefits these systems can deliver.
“Staff experience should be treated as a core performance metric for EPR optimisation and used to guide prioritisation of investment and improvement efforts,” the study says.
