Following a review of the £12.7 billion National Programme for IT (NPfIT), the government has announced that the project will be scrapped, allowing hospitals to choose their own computer systems.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson have collectively decided it is better to discontinue the programme at this level of investment rather than to continue to spend on a project that may ultimately fail.

The NPfIT was originally set up in 2002 and aimed to link all parts of the NHS in England under one electronic record system, however this began to quickly run over allotted time and budget. The original objective was to ensure that every patient had an individual electronic care record which could be rapidly transmitted between different parts of the NHS.

Ministers worked to reconfigure the scheme last year, but after a fresh review have decided to let hospitals choose their own systems rather than relying on a nationally imposed programme. The decision comes as the review panel decided that there was no confidence that the NPfIT plans could still be delivered.

In July, the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the programme for failing to deliver the promised universal system. A PAC report concluded that the provider’s ability to deliver the promised product had proved beyond their capacity. At the time, the report stated that
“implementation of alternative up-to-date IT systems has fallen significantly behind schedule and costs have escalated.”

“It was meant to be a very helpful thing for NHS staff and patients but instead has become this amazingly top-heavy, hideously expensive programme. The problem is, it didn’t deliver”, said a Department of Health source.

A government source said elements of the programme would remain but ministers would take direct control. Trusts will still be have to ability to share patient information, and the appointment service and email system will remain despite the lack of an overarching integrated care records system.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley commented on the decision saying that the implementation of an all-encompassing top-down IT system for the local NHS was not fit for purpose and was not in line with individual Trust needs. He asserted that the government will take a new strategy, moving to an innovative new system driven by local decision-making. “This is the only way to make sure we get value for money from IT systems that better meet the needs of a modernised NHS” he said.

Health Minister Simon Burns, said that the government will now allow hospitals to use and develop the IT they already have and add to their environment either by integrating systems purchased through the existing national contracts or elsewhere. Providers of NHS care such as hospitals and GP surgeries will now be told to strike IT deals locally and regionally to get the best programmes they can afford.

Original Source BBC News

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Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

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