BMJ  2007;334:815 (21 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39189.376979.DB

News

Benefits of £12bn IT programme in NHS are "unclear," MPs say

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

MPs have called for an urgent review of the programme to computerise the NHS in England, which they criticise for unprecedented delays and costs and whose benefits, they say, are uncertain.

In its report the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts cites two former aides who attack the national programme for information technology (IT) in the NHS for the poor consultation with clinicians on how the new system should be designed and the use of "bullying tactics" with NHS trusts and suppliers.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee, said: "The programme is not looking good. The electronic patient clinical record, which is central to the project, is already running two years late. The suppliers are struggling to deliver. Scepticism is rife among the NHS clinicians whose commitment to the programme is essential to its success. And, four years down the line, the costs and benefits for the local NHS . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

NHS IT system must use unique patient identifiers to achieve research potential

Susan Mayor
BMJ 2007 334: 1238. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

England sets up task force to hasten use of electronic records

Michael Cross
BMJ 2006 332: 1467. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Dangers of a Computerised NHS.

Christopher Houlden, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Apr 2007 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more here>> and here>>