Ahead of devolved administration elections to take place in a few months, a sector organisation has lobbied prospective parliamentarians to ensure that badly needed primary care tech updates are delivered

Improving IT for GPs must be a priority for the next Scottish Government, the membership body representing primary care doctors has said.

The call comes as the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Scotland published findings of a survey which showed nearly half of GPs felt their PC or laptop was not fit for purpose. Some 52% also said their software was not up to date, while 55% indicated that their IT systems were not capable of exchanging information effectively with secondary care or community pharmacists.

Publishing its manifesto ahead of May’s Scottish Parliament election, RCGP Scotland has called on all political parties to commit to updating IT systems for GPs.

Vice chair Dr Chris Williams said the current state of affairs meant GPs were delivering primary care “with one hand tied behind their backs”.

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He added: “The results of our GP membership survey are unequivocal: even the most basic tools such as functioning hardware and software are not consistently available in GP practices. When more than half of GPs tell us their IT systems are not fit for purpose, and when safe, seamless communication between primary and secondary care cannot be relied upon, patient care is put at risk and clinicians are forced to work under entirely avoidable pressures.  

“No GP should be waiting twenty minutes every morning for slow computers or outdated systems to start up. That is valuable time that should be spent on essential clinical work. This is why we are urging the next Scottish Government to make modern, fully interoperable IT infrastructure for general practice an urgent priority. Investing in proper digital tools will reduce inefficiencies, ease frustration for GPs, and crucially, ensure patients receive faster, safer and more joined-up care.”

Previous research by RCGP Scotland and the BMA has found issues with interfaces between discrete systems meet account for half of all medical errors, with one third of these occurring at the point where primary and secondary care platforms meet.

Other policies in the RCGP Scotland manifesto include increasing GPs’ share of NHS funding, growing the workforce, targeting resources in deprived areas, and making preventative care a priority.

A version of this story originally appeared on PublicTechnology sister publication Holyrood