From the consulting room on keeping stuff up to date
In the second of his new columns, Cheshire GP Neil Paul reflects on the frustrations of patches and updates. Every device wants to update itself weekly it seems – often at the most inconvenient moments. Surely, he muses, there must be a better way...
Yesterday I logged on to my computer - which is never a quick process - and was informed, not for the first time, that EMIS needed to install some patches. Amazingly, I was early for once and had half an hour, so I clicked “ok”.
Five minutes later, I was told I needed a reboot. Twenty-five minutes later my computer had slowly shutdown and booted up again even more slowly. I am sure the network isn’t configured right - should it take that long?
Then I had to frantically type in all five of the passwords that I need to enter to convince the computer I am who I say I am - even though I’m the only person that ever uses my room - and ended up staring five minutes late. What ever happened to single sign-on? "Is first thing on a Monday morning the best time to ask to install these patches? Why couldn’t they install in the background and ask me to reboot at lunchtime?"
Anyway this got me thinking about updates; surely there must be a better way? Although updates are often welcome and bring new features, sometimes you wonder what has changed. Many so-called bug fixes don’t actually make any difference and sometimes they make things worse.
When is the best time?
Is first thing on a Monday morning the best time to ask to install these patches? Why couldn’t they install in the background and ask me to reboot at lunchtime, the way that Microsoft Windows does?
Updates are driving us crazy!
We have been driven crazy with updates recently. A few weeks ago, when we had ETP installed, most consulting room computers were found to be months out of date with their patches.
Presumably, this is because no-one else is as stupid as me, so they won’t try and do it before morning surgery. Unfortunately, it looks like they never get round to it, which can cause problems.
We had a full system down a few weeks ago and we were informed that the main EMIS server had not patched properly. No-one, including EMIS or our IT department, had noticed.
Then, we upgraded our appointments system, Frontdesk, which meant every client had to be turned off and rebooted one lunchtime. The same thing happened when Docman needed updating; our IT administrator ran from room to room madly trying to make sure everyone was upgraded while they were out on visits.
Apathy rules
I realised recently that no one has been patching Microsoft Office properly. For some reason the IT department haven’t set it to update! "Every device seems to want to update itself weekly. Even my mouse told me the other day there was new software available."
We also have a Phillips computerised dictation system, and I noticed a patch was out that was meant to help it start and run faster. I emailed everyone and told them to update it. A month later, when I mentioned this to someone, they hadn’t done the patch because it was too complicated and they didn’t have the time.
But then, almost every piece of software seems to want to update itself weekly. Even my mouse told me the other day there was new software available.
Proper management is needed
This made me think there should be a program that can list all the computers in your building - including servers - and tell you what version software they are on and what they should be running for all the different programs on them.
In summary: it’s chaos
Meanwhile, the update situation is chaos and something needs to be done. It can be very time consuming to keep up to date and sometimes it is difficult to do. The process can also be error prone, so people don’t do it or get it wrong.
Who is to blame?
Is it our IT department? Should they have a better handle of what is on each machine and come round in the dead of night updating things? I believe there is a more automated solution that allows multiple workstations to be updated remotely. If there is, why aren’t they using it?
However, I also understand this solution only works for Windows. So is it Microsoft’s fault? Shouldn’t it have a system in which all legitimate software installed properly updates in a common way using a common system quietly seamlessly and behind the scenes?
And if Microsoft can’t be expected to do everything, is it NHS Connecting for Health’s fault? They are running the national IT agenda and accrediting suppliers. Why can’t they decree a standard update procedure that all suppliers have to sign up to and follow? One that makes life easier for the end user?
This is a problem that isn’t going away. Someone needs to fix it.
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About the author: Dr Neil Paul is a full time GP working at the Ashfields primary care centre in Sandbach. He has just been appointed to his primary care trust’s professional executive committee and has a lead role for IM&T and Payment by Results.