Try out the paperless NHS when doctors change jobs in the NHS
BMJ 2013; 346 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f946 (Published 19 February 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f946
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Job change over, and locum agency registrations would give us an ideal opportunity for streamlining paperwork, and piloting a paperless system.
Like the other respondents, I have lost track of the number of forms I fill in every 6-12months when I swap jobs (often coupled with moving house, and registering with a new GP hence filling in thousands of non NHS forms, and attending for the compulsory new patient check up...again). These forms are repetitive as every department wants to know the same information (and when you change jobs every six months, detailing your past employment for the last five years gets monotonous!).
Occupational health departments never seem to talk to one another, and I regularly get re-bled when I start a new job, which must be a huge waste of resources.
Good luck to the deanery that first implements a paperless system so that trainees can move around the deanery easily.
Competing interests: No competing interests
I agree with Dr Roycroft's comments that transferable details for junior doctors is common sense and will save time, hassle, and a lot of aggravation for doctors and staff.
As a student I have moved hospital every 2 months. I have seen different trusts trialling various paperless aspects of patient care, usually with more than a few hiccups along the way. But despite feedback at every placement I have always had to fill in a new set of application forms for new ID, confidentiality agreements, contact details, etc etc. Whilst I expect to do the same when I start FY1 in August, some form of online and transferable details system would be common sense, reducing the amount of form filling and the time the wards are left understaffed because the junior doctors are sitting in induction sessions.
I'm not sure how far away a complete paperless NHS is but starting with manageable tasks like junior doctors' details makes a lot of sense.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Try out the paperless NHS when doctors change jobs in the NHS
Dr Roycroft raises an unfortunate truth: the NHS has an opportunity to take advantage of being a national organisation but fails to do so with regard to movement of staff between NHS posts. Very few, if any, doctors will complete their training without regular moves between hospitals or trusts. Neither is this unique to doctors, nursing staff and allied professionals frequently change jobs without leaving the NHS. The sheer amount of duplicated effort is an excellent target for reducing paperwork.
My foundation training programme has seen me work for two health boards, but despite this being a well recognised rotation it was necessary at changeover to complete a large ream of forms similar if not identical to ones I had submitted a year prior. This included a requirement to attend the occupational health department to obtain a paper summary for my new employer, all other forms of communication being apparently unacceptable. A little effort to streamline movement between NHS posts, especially in well established training programmes, would surely yield quick reductions in both paperwork and administrative time.
Competing interests: No competing interests