Digital Pharma: More painful progress for NHS electronic records
pharmafile | May 26, 2011 | News story | Medical Communications | Digital Pharma blog, IT, NHS, electronic patient records
The NHS’ plans for electronic patient records are in tatters, dogged by missed deadlines, poor value for money and a lack of direction.
Originally every patient in England was to have an electronic care record by 2010, but the National Audit Office said last week that even by 2016 all the necessary systems may now not be in place.
Even then, widespread failings with the £11.4 billion IT programme will prevent the NHS from providing electronic records for all patients, according to the NAO’s scathing report.
It said the health service is moving too slowly and even where electronic care records systems had been put in place they were not doing everything the Department of Health had intended.
The NAO went on to say that the £2.7 billion spent so far did not represent value for money and, based on performance so far, it couldn’t be confident the situation would be any different for the remaining £4.3 billion.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: “The original vision for the National Programme for IT in the NHS will not be realised. The NHS is now getting far fewer systems than planned despite the Department paying contractors almost the same amount of money.
“This is yet another example of a department fundamentally underestimating the scale and complexity of a major IT-enabled change programme. The Department of Health needs to admit that it is now in damage-limitation mode.”
The National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT) has repeatedly hit hurdles since its launch in 2002. In 2008 another NAO report found it to be running four years behind schedule.
There have been some modest successes within the programme, with a national broadband network and a electronic system to share X-rays both almost completed, and the Department of Health remains committed to the project.
A spokesperson said: “Improving information technology is a fundamental part of delivering a modern, world-class health service. This report from the National Audit Office highlights major concerns with the pace and scale of delivery of information systems under the National Programme for IT.
“We do think the investment made so far in the NPfIT will potentially deliver value for money now that we have a more flexible approach that allows the local NHS to be in charge of its own requirements.”
MPs seek answers on NHS IT project
Earlier this week Christine Connelly, director general of informatics at the Department of Health, and NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson appeared before the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee to defend the programme.
“We don’t believe that any money has been wasted, because we only pay for systems when they are live and working in Trusts,” Connelly said, but added that “we must ensure that we get the best value for the tax payer moving forward and that we deliver systems into the NHS that are fit for purpose”.
However, the scale of the billion pound project – the world’s largest civilian IT scheme –and the current state of the NHS’ finances mean the debate is about more than just new computer systems.
Asked if there would have to be a trade-off between investing in front line clinical staff or putting money into new IT systems, Sir David Nicholson told the Committee it was up to local NHS trusts to take “hard-headed decisions”.
Summing up the hearing, Committee chair Margaret Hodge said there remained “a huge question mark on how much we can salvage from the £4.3 billion to spend elsewhere on frontline services in the NHS”.
Dominic Tyer is web editor for Pharmafocus and InPharm.com and the author of the Digital Pharma blog He can be contacted via email, Twitter or LinkedIn.
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