UK's £12.7 billion NHS scheme in trouble

THE NATIONAL Health Service's £12.7 billion computer system is in doubt after its managers acknowledged that there will be further delays.

Connecting for Health, the NHS agency responsible for the world's biggest civil IT project, said it didn't have a clue when hospitals in England will start using the software that is required to keep track of patients' medical files.

Christine Connelly, the Department of Health's recently-appointed head of informatics (whatever that is), is now wondering if the project is worthwhile. She must also be wondering if the whole thing was just a covert way of the government giving cash to outsourcing companies just to sit on their hands and do nothing.

The Treasury is understood to be leaning on Connelly to find cuts to compensate for the billions spent on the bailout of the banks.

Currently the only thing saving the project is the high cost of cancelling contracts with IT suppliers. In other words, the government has wasted so much dosh already, it might as well try to plug in the lemon.

In May the National Audit Office said the project was running at least four years late, but appeared to be feasible. However it has since suffered a series of further setbacks.

Fujitsu, the contractor responsible for building the patient record system in the south of England, has been fired. BT was supposed to take over the work, but has not yet agreed a price.

Attempts to install the system at the Royal Free hospital and Bart's caused weeks of confusion and disruption. Other trusts begged not to be included in the next wave because they were washing their hair and the dog ate their homework.

A Connecting for Health spokesman said parts of the programme are working well, with doctors and patients already noticing the benefits.

According to Jon Hoeksma, editor of E-Health Insider, a website that has specialised in tracking Connecting for Health, the Contracts for the patient care record were signed in 2003 and they were supposed to be completed by 2010. But the best estimates now are that the software will not be ready until well into the next decade. µ

L'Inq
The Guardian