England Aims to Create a Single Electronic Records System for 50 Million Patients by 2014

Billion Pound NHS Computer Project Could Be Scrapped, Chancellor Says

December 6, 2009

Times Online - The multibillion-pound national progamme to overhaul NHS computer systems could be cancelled in this week’s Pre-Budget Report, Alistair Darling has said.

The National Programme for IT (NPfIT), parts of which are already running four years late, aims to create a single electronic records system for 50 million patients in England, as well as providing electronic prescriptions and other services.

The Chancellor said the “quite expensive” programme, which has been running since 2002 and has an estimated budget of more than £12.7 billion, could be postponed to save cash.

Mr Darling told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC:

“It is necessary for me, on Wednesday, to indicate areas where we are going to cut spending and where we are not going to spend as much as we were.

“For example, the NHS has quite an expensive IT system that, frankly, is not essential for the front line. That’s something we do not need to go ahead with just now.”

The programme — reputed to be the largest non-military IT project in the world — has previously been criticised over delays to the proposed database of medical records and concerns that the system will not be secure.

Fewer than 20 hospital trusts in England have installed electronic medical records under the project, despite an initial deadline for the whole country to have done so by 2010.

Ministers had previously defended the system, insisting that it could save the NHS £1.14 billion by the revised deadline of 2014.

But the Government may have to pay out millions to break existing contracts if it cancels the project.

At least £400 million of public money has been spent on the project, with four regional contractors — BT, Accenture, Fujitsu and CSC — initially being awarded contracts to provide systems in different regions of England...

Treasury officials stressed that only part of the IT programme was on the line and it would not be scrapped altogether.