UK govt to invest £40m to reduce NHS staff login times

The UK Department of Health and Social Care has announced a £40m technology investment to reduce NHS staff login times by improving the way computer systems are accessed.

The investment is expected to free up time from the administrative burden faced by the employees, thereby addressing the slow login times and help them focus more on one-to-one patient care.

Currently, employees across NHS trusts have to log in to various computer programmes when tending to a patient, with each of them needing its own login details. Some employees have to log into as many as 15 different systems, said the department.

The multiple logins can be time consuming for NHS staff, and also needs them to memorise various complex passwords or use the same one across different systems, which poses a cybersecurity risk.

The department said that the investment in reducing NHS staff login times will help projects like those carried out at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. The project in the Liverpool hospital put in place a single sign-on technology, which is said to have cut down on the time spent logging into various computer systems from one minute 45 seconds to 10 seconds.

The health and social care department revealed that the ‘logins project’ will focus on three key areas, which includes efforts to standardise logins and offer multi-factor logins such as finger print access instead of password-led logins.

The second area of focus will be to make sure that trusts update their processes to provide staff appropriate access permissions for the systems needed for the treatment of patients.

The third area of focus will be on integration of local and national systems so that NHS staff can access the complete range of clinical and workforce systems to support their requirements.

The department said that an additional £4.5m will be given to local authorities to bridge the technology gap between the NHS and social care.

UK Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “It is frankly ridiculous how much time our doctors and nurses waste logging on to multiple systems. As I visit hospitals and GP practices around the country, I’ve lost count of the amount of times staff complain about this. It’s no good in the 21st century having 20th century technology at work.

“This investment is committed to driving forward the most basic frontline technology upgrades, so treatment can be delivered more effectively and we can keep pace with the growing demand on the NHS.”