The chair of the UK Health Informatics Council has advised the NHS to register staff who deal with sensitive medical information to register themselves as informatics professionals.

Tony Eardley, chair of the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKChip) warns that dangers could arise from unregistered staff managing critical health systems and confidential medical information.

“In an age where medical research and delivery of health services depend increasingly on reliable computer-based systems and accurate and up-to-date information, health informatics staff should be encouraged if not required to demonstrate their competence and professionalism through professional registration” Eardley said.

UKChip assert that the NHS should follow their set of established standards by encouraging the accreditation of their existing staff. In addition, they also wish to publish open register of health informatics professionals in order to improve clarity and accountability.

The organisation say that their vision is to create a health landscape where informatics is regarded as a valued profession. “All persons in the UK who spend a substantial proportion of their role or time working in health informatics to be registered and thereby certified as professionals who meet defined standards of professional conduct and competence” said UKChip.

Due to the sensitive nature of NHS information, it is believed that by encouraging NHS staff to become certified professionals, the risk of errors and breaches would be significantly reduced.
305 data breaches have been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) since November 2007, with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust potentially becoming the first to be fined for breaching the Data Protection Act.

Failures in areas such as data handling, entry and coding have also led to significant problems for the NHS, as has virus information and mismanaged system implementation and upgrades. Eardley asserts that such data breaches may only be a small sample as many may never be publicly reported.

Eardley asserts that the standards used by UKChip for registration cover not only staff competence in informatics, but also their professional behaviour, their understanding of medicine and care, as well as the management of health services. He believes that all health informatics professionals should possess a certain level of competence in all these areas.

“Registration and regulation does not automatically mean that all of the above would have been avoided, but it certainly reduces the risk of mistakes happening again” he said.

Original Source The Guardian Healthcare Network

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