In 2023 a survey conducted by Oxford College found that 20% of staff will be significantly under skilled for their jobs by 2030. This is and will be a strain on IT and support in the coming years. Staff should be trained in IT and associated equipment. The ultimate goal is to reduce time lost through contacting support when a system or a piece equipment breaks. Additionally better IT literacy may head off many faults before they occur.
What I will not describe in this key is the current, common faults and their solutions. Since these will change over time and could render most of this key useless. Instead it will focus more on the creation of strategies that produce processes in keeping with this key. These strategies and process are updated as needed.
Staff should develop the view “if you use it you should look after it”
Level 1
IT literacy in the practice is generally low. Some staff are better than others and they are pulled away from their work to fix the IT problems of others. This causes frustration and low productivity. Equipment is not looked after but is run into the ground. Where systems develope minor problems they are tolerated on the grounds that IT support are too difficult or take too long to action that it is simpler to leave it until it breaks. Although this is a valid point at level one organisations the support staff are overworked and cannot keep up with demand.
- Start introducing IT training and problem solving into protected time/ training of staff. This training should be regular if not necessarily comprehensive at this stage.
- Ensure all staff understand the need for preventative maintenance and the advantages of fixing trivial issues themselves.
- Saves time
- Improves the practices performance.
- Satisfaction of fixing problems themselves.
- Seek cheat sheets from local IT on common problems.
These are the first steps to an effective self maintaining strategy. It is useful for a audit of common faults that cause the most significant impact. These areas can be targeted first. This audit should be cover all staff and the audit should include details of the impact be these monetary, time or clinical.
Care should be taken to not pick too many faults or issues at once. These is a danger that staff can be overwhelmed.
Level 2
At level 2 staff are using their new found skills to prevent delays or solve problems without IT support on the most common of issues. Staff should be using any cheat sheets provided by IT. At level 2
- Focus is expanded to encompass equipment, e.g blood pressure machines or scales.
- Checklists of preemptive maintenance should be drawn up for equipment.
- Groups should be formed to perform regular checks on this equipment. These will those who are using the equipment.
- All staff are involved in some preemptive maintenance/ IT problem solving. There is some ownership and some pride in maintaining and problems solving.
- Use SGA’s to establish common faults and solutions with staff contributing not only issues but solutions.
- SGA’s should make goals to reduce the 3 forms of equipment abuse
- Too much or Too little cleaning
- Failure to update software or perform routine maintenance of equipment.
- Ignoring faults
- Staff should be trained how to solve simple faults and when to seek help.
Level 3
At level 3 there is feeling among the staff that it is their responsibility to keep equipment/ software from breaking down. At level 3 the emphasis is on the staff to look after the equipment they use. All equipment is cleaned/ maintained/ updated on a regular basis.
- The cleaning/ maintaining/ updating of equipment becomes habitual, not regimental. It is important to stress this point as one is strategic, natural the other is forced and artificial.
- Staff start to take pride and ownership of their equipment.
- Staff refine and follow guidelines for fixing and maintaining equipment.
- When breakdowns do occur use SGA’s to understand the breakdown to a means of mitigating or preventing the breakdown in future.
- When breakdowns occur quick changeover systems are used. The key to successful quick changeovers is repeatability. This cannot happen if the level of equipment maintenance is insufficient.
Level 4
At level 4 a strategy of equipment improvement control. At every point of failure staff ask why the failure occurred. The roots of the problem are investigated, documented and shared with the SGA or anyone who may also encounter the issue. The goal is too keep it from happening again, solutions to this may include the amendments to the maintenance schedules or making changes to the software or equipment. At level 4 there is a constant view to improve equipment not just maintain it.
- Publicise instances where improvements to equipment have led to fewer breakdowns or issues.
- Create a sticker or some sort of visual symbol where the changes to the equipment have taken place. Staff will wear these like badges of honor. These visual reminders will also plant seeds for further improvements.