Overinvestment in tech causing problems in the NHS – report

UK healthcare systems risk data breaches due to overinvestment in new technology, which is increasing stress and email mistakes, says a new study of healthcare workers.

The survey by email security firm Zivver found that professionals are feeling swamped by the growing number of digital comms in their healthcare organisation and, for the NHS, across wider integrated care systems (ICS).

While investing in a large number of new channels may be perceived as progressive, the myriad of new technologies is disrupting workflows and productivity for healthcare workers. In the last two years, 51 percent of healthcare workers report that their comms channels have increased, with 31 percent saying new comms have impacted their ability to focus and do their best work. 

Healthcare workers can feel overwhelmed by choice, unsure of the best method. As a result, they feel stressed and are more likely to make email errors, which could result in a data breach, claimed Zivver.

The research found that in the last two years, 30 percent of healthcare workers have sent the wrong attachment in error, 27 percent have hit reply all by mistake, and 20 percent have sent sensitive information via email that they probably shouldn’t have. However, it’s not clear in the research if this is a consequence of feeling stressed, or if this is an increase on previous years.

Limiting disruption and stress

Liam Cahill, an advisor to national bodies and frontline providers in healthcare, said: “IT leaders face a real quandary in trying to capitalise on the opportunities that digital technologies bring, but also in limiting the disruption and stress that accompanies huge changes to how staff work when patient demand and staffing levels are so critical. With communications representing such a huge part of care, whilst everyone needs to play a role in protecting the security of patient data, we need to make sure that smarter technology is bearing the load, rather than passing greater expectations on to already busy staff to avoid human errors and data breaches.

“Our research found 99 percent of healthcare professionals want to be free to focus on their core role, but the increasing number of digital platforms they use is compounding their stress, distracting from core tasks, and leading to data protection mistakes,” added Adam Low, CTO at Zivver.

“What we also found troubling is the lack of understanding of personal responsibility for computer security: just one in five respondents said they worry about data security. As email remains the most productive and efficient means of communication across healthcare, we must be working toward an effortless fix to ensure security and compliance for the transfer of sensitive information. Smarter, simpler technology with a layer of security will be the most effective way to overcome security barriers and support healthcare workers in delivering the best patient care.”

According to the report, email was championed as the preferred form of communication, with 88 percent of employees relying on email to get their job done. Being progressive means moving towards a stronger and better solution for all. 83 percent of IT leaders agree that employee email security errors can be reduced with smarter data security, making this a clear focus to improve patient care for IT leaders.