FRONTLINE NHS staff spent less than a day training on a new IT system for diagnosing and processing patients before it went live.
Information, obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has revealed some staff at medical helpline NHS 24 spent as little as six and a half hours learning to use the new multi-million pound telecommunications package before a failed attempt to launch it nationwide.
Extra training has since been organised for staff, but a revised launch date of June 14 has been postponed amid a new technical problem and concerns about the readiness of staff.
Read more: Launch of crisis-hit NHS 24 IT system delayed again by 'fresh technical difficulties'
Graham Revie, Royal College of Nursing steward at NHS 24, said a survey of frontline managers including senior nurses found four out of five did not feel comfortable or competent to support staff to use the new system despite a further day and a half learning to use the IT.
He said: "The managers have experienced (extra) training. Their feedback from that was even after that training they did not feel in a position of being comfortable around supporting the staff."
He added that 35% of the managers - the equivalent of ward sisters in a hospital - had responded to the survey.
NHS 24 had originally planned for the new technology, known as the Future Programme, to roll out almost three years ago. It has suffered repeated delays and is expected to run £50m over budget. Double running costs, as the health board pays to continue using the old programme at the same time as funding its replacement, has been one of the factors driving up the bill.
In November the new IT was launched twice but aborted amid concerns for patient safety as callers were taking much longer to process. Investigations have since raised questions about how well staff were prepared to handle the new computer package.
Read more: System for reporting NHS errors 'needs overhaul'
The Scottish Liberal Democrats requested information about the time spent training staff to use the Future Programme before the first launch. NHS 24 said: "The number of hours training undertaken by call handlers varied depending upon self and manager assessed individual need... On average call handlers had 12.5 hours of development, however this varied from individual to individual, with the minimum amount of hours being 6.5."
Jim Hume, health spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: "It is no wonder there were concerns over the lack of training on this new IT system when some NHS staff had less than a full day of instruction. The new computer system was meant to make life easier for NHS staff and patients alike but it is now three years late. This whole process has been an utter shambles."
Mr Revie, who is chair of the staff side at NHS 24, said it was only when the system went live that people felt unprepared. He added: "When we tested it in dress rehearsal it did not reflect the live environment as well as it should have."
Now, he said, it would take more to convince staff they were ready to use the new IT. "The RCN is keen that this system, when it operates, will deliver for patients and for staff," he said. "That is why we are working with NHS 24 to get this over the line."
Read more: Health chiefs admit 'systemic failure' as cost of NHS IT project rockets by £50m
In a statement NHS 24 said: "During the 2015 training programme staff undertook a combination of e-learning, system functionality practice and classroom based learning with specialist Future Programme coaches. Following a review of our staff readiness approach and taking feedback from staff into consideration, our training approach moving forward is focused on ensuring the training needs of individual staff are met and that they are fully capable of operating the new system before we go live."
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