Scottish NHS staff miss PCs for Christmas

NHS staff in Lothian has been left without a new home computer for Christmas bought through the Home Computing Initiative after BT suffered supply problems caused by over-subscription to the scheme in Scotland.

According to The Scotsman, around 3000 NHS workers across the whole of Scotland had not received their new PCs for Christmas, and some have been told they may have to wait until February for delivery.  BT has since told EHI the actual figure was closer to 1,000. 

David Hughes, husband of Edinburgh nurse Annette Hughes, told the newspaper that they had been promised a date of 20 December for delivery of their new system: "We have now been told that because of supply problems we will not get a computer until February at the earliest, and I’m sure other staff have had the same problem."

BT said the Home Computing Scheme had been over-subscribed by 50% across the whole public sector in Scotland, and 13,000 computers had been ordered for delivery before Christmas.

Calling the delays "regrettably common" for the time of year, a spokesperson told the Scotsman: "We have experienced serious problems with suppliers and couriers with suppliers and couriers in trying to meet this demand."

Jacqui Simpson, director of nursing at NHS Lothian, said: "It is disappointing that some of our staff did not receive their computers in time for Christmas but we have been assured that delivery will be made as soon as possible and affected staff have been given new delivery dates."

The Scottish Executive signed a deal with BT in early 2005 to supply computers to public sector workers through the Home Computing Initiative in order to increase computer usage in the country.

A spokesman for BT’s UK Health division apologised for the delay. "We are very sorry if any family was offered a delivery date which subsequently needed to be changed. Our information is that around 1,000 NHS people in Scotland are in this position."

BT told E-Health Insider: "The internal marketing of the offer within the NHS did not start until November and clearly was very successful since take-up was more than 50% greater than anticipated. But, as you can imagine, demand for PCs and for courier availability is at its highest at this time of the year.

"By now each affected family should have been contacted and received our apologies along with a new delivery date. Most customers have been very understanding and we have received only a very few requests to cancel the arrangement."

BT added that their customer service staff were working hard and that they are not taking any new orders until next week.