NHS could be wasting millions as a result of digital skills gap as mobile website demand increases, according to study

But while spend in the area is growing, most NHS Foundation Trusts and a number of NHS organisations are struggling to deliver adequate web services to increasing numbers of digital users, according to the study.

Mike Danford, director of Mixd, said: “From our experience of working with NHS Foundation Trusts and other NHS organisations, many are now getting in the region of 50 per cent of traffic regularly from mobile devices on top of an average across the board of 35 per cent.

“Some websites are beautifully creative but are falling down on not being usable; the information people want either isn’t there isn’t easily accessible.”

The agency examined a range of websites across the NHS and found the majority did not meet NHS brand guidelines, often for reasons as simple as using incorrect fonts and images. The study also found that only two per cent of Clinical Commissioning Group (CCP) and Trust websites were designed to be compatible with mobile devices with features such as responsive design.

Danford said that rather than functionality, the problem lay with content presentation and accessibility and while the move in website creation towards communications departments was a good thing, a lack of digital skills knowledge is hindering efforts.

“It’s about delivering the correct information and the ease of finding content. We’ve found that clients often put out news stories that a foundation trust should be putting out, key notes from an AGM for example, but that information isn’t necessarily relevant to the end user. The information should be available but within a website design that is best suited to what the user needs.

“There has been a big shift recently from the IT department being responsible for creating a Trust website to the communications department, who are more appreciative of the need to create something that works for users rather than just technical delivery. But the problem we find is that those people often lack the key skills required.”

The findings add to digital skills gap concerns across a range of industries alongside the rapid growth of smartphone and tablet devices and higher demand from users.