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| The olden days! |
When computerisation started in General Practice, in the early 1980s, I was keen as a young GP, but my senior partners thought that computers did not have a future. We started off by getting a commodore 64 computer, and used it largely as a database. I had to fund it with another young partner, and we did so, as we felt it was the future.
Narrowly missing out on the Micros for GP scheme, we eventually got a network when we moved to purpose built premises in 1988. Professor Sir Michael Drury (PRCGP) officially opened the premises: we still have the pictures, and I look so young! We took out a loan and bought our first system - that was the way things were done then. We were able to have the software we wanted, and were able to get a quick and efficient server to our specifications.
Over the next few years, GP computing was taken over by the Department of Health, and they had a budget for IT. As they had the purse strings, they took over the requirement for renewing hardware - via the Primary Care Trusts - and the process became more complicated and more bureaucratic. Our practice went fully computerised 9 years ago, and since then the hardware has not kept pace. This is partly as a result on increasing patient numbers (our list size has doubled since I started) and also the complexity of systems used.
Most of the complexity is around surveillance software so that we can be performance managed, and we find that these external programmes that inspect our clinical systems are slowing the whole clinical system down. Mail merging a document stopped taking 100 milliseconds, and eventually took the best part of 30 seconds to do. Finding results, reading scanned letters and chasing up results was slower and slower.
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| My steely pen |
I ended up gnashing my teeth with frustration.
Today we have a new server. The PCT decides on the size, speed and general specification. I hope they have future planned, as more and more will go onto the computer. We might need another new server soon.
In the meantime we will have 2 days without any computer as the new one is fitted, and the data is transferred. This will mean writing everything down.
Today I shall sharpen my steely fountain pen, and plunge back into the 1980s, writing everything down.
What an atavistic pleasure!
4 comments:
Oh dear. Doctors' handwriting has always had a bad press and it certainly won't have improved since computers have been available!
At one time I was teaching English to international students who had to take a written exam. Some of them insisted on always handing in word processed homework and couldn't understand my warnings. My handwriting has never been brilliant and now sometimes I can't read my own shopping lists as I use pen and paper so infrequently!
Not installing Emis web then I would guess if you're getting a new server? Which system have you, er..... your PCT, chosen for you?
Have you got to type it all up on Monday as well?
New server??? Thank christ - that means you've been spared the trauma that is EMIS web.
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