Legacy integration in NHS still slow, says survey

A survey undertaken by software company WRQ has found that less than half of UK healthcare IT managers whose trusts use legacy applications are in the process of integrating them into newer systems, with fears of disruption and cost ranking high above the reasons for the delay.

Furthermore, a total of 26% said that healthcare workers at their trusts spent over two hours per day accessing information on ‘green-screen’ VDUs. 22% of respondents said that using legacy systems was a significant drain on their time.

Paul O’Connell, head of WRQ, said that the survey showed that the use of legacy applications was hurting productivity: "The fact that 65% respondents stated that they are looking to either extend the life of their legacy systems, or integrate their legacy systems with new solutions, highlights just how important these are.

"Yet it is disconcerting to note that of those who have not already integrated their applications, nearly half (46%) have a fear of the disruption and slightly less (42%) have a fear of cost.

"Organisations simply need to know how to unlock the potential of their legacy systems as it’s a much more cost-effective option when compared to ripping out and replacing them. With this approach, healthcare organisations can more readily and rapidly embrace the potential returns of the Connecting for Health programme."

The survey asked 100 healthcare IT directors attending HC2005 about the use of legacy applications in their trusts. A total of 47% said that they were still using the old systems.

Of the 56% of directors who said they were not currently integrating the legacy systems, most of them (83%) had already identified the best way of carrying out the task.

41% said, in the short-to-medium term, that they would be able to arrange for the legacy applications to slot into the National Programme for IT’s solution. 24% said that the existing legacy applications would continue running, and 35% said that they would be replaced by their LSP’s systems.

When asked whether there would be any benefit from cost-efficient integration into the NPfIT, 57% said that this would be a potential or significant benefit.

O’Connell said: "As an accountable public sector body, it is imperative for the healthcare industry to be seen as delivering an efficient and effective service to its customers; that is, the general public. However, the reality of ever-declining budgets means that the healthcare sector must be creative in its attempts to execute new initiatives in the fastest way possible."