Four out of five GP surgeries are reporting one or more problems with their IT systems, according to a survey conducted by Londonwide LMCs.
Problems include slow internet connections, poor and out of date hardware as well as poor IT support to problems with internal networks, found the survey of 95 practices across 26 CCG areas.
It also found that 66% of practices still rely on the outdated Microsoft Windows XP Operating system, which will have to be replaced before 8 April 2015 when security support expires.
Vice-chair of Coventry LMC Grant Ingrams said that the NHS should really have planned better for the coming redundancy of Windows XP, considering that general support for the system was cancelled years ago.
‘It’s the NHS doing what it does best. Wasting money responding to a crisis rather than planning in advance.’
Londonwide LMCs said the number of practices still using Windows XP was a ‘concern’ and that the results will be used to drive IT infrastructure improvements.
A spokesperson told Pulse: ‘We hope that the results from the survey will help us build a picture of the IT systems and pressures that exist in practices across London and we hope to use the feedback to improve IT infrastructure in GP practices in the future.’
