NHS chief rules out review of £12bn IT system
There is to be no independent review of the National Health Service's controversial £12bn information technology programme according to the head of the NHS, although significant changes in the way it is implemented appear to be on the way. David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, said nothing "has led me to believe that we are wildly off course" or that "a major review of the programme is required at this particular stage".
He was speaking at a recent conference with a wide range of interested parties at which concerns about the confidentiality and security of the system were aired, along with debates about how to get doctors, nurses and managers to own the programme, while speeding its implementation.
His conclusion that he had "seen no evidence" that a review was needed was greeted with disappointment by Martyn Thomas, a spokesman for 23 computer academics who have been calling for a review and who had earlier challenged Mr Nicholson to launch one.
The academics maintain that there remain questions about the technical architecture and security of the system while arguing that it is displaying many of the symptoms of past large scale IT failures.
Mr Nicholson said the programme did need to be reformed and needed to become more "self critical in a very open and public way".
There were questions about whether it was trying to do "too much on too broad a front" and needed to be "focused down" on elements that could bring rapid benefits to patients, while the balance between national and local responsibilities needed to be resolved, he said.
Responsibility for implementation is being shifted away from Connecting for Health, the national programme, to strategic health authorities, with all NHS organisations now being told to produce and budget for an IT implementation plan.
However, the changes carry the risk that any significant slowing down of the project, or any big move away from national standardisation, could open up the NHS to claims for contract variation from the big suppliers - something both sides appear keen to avoid.
From:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/29449c58-b263-11db-a79f-0000779e2340.html
When David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, said nothing "has led me to believe that we are wildly off course" or that "a major review of the programme is required at this particular stage" he demonstrates either incompetence or deep ignorance.
Even the basic requirements for the Connected for Health IT system have yet to be decided:
Patients don’t like the proposals:
December 21, 2006
Patients win partial right to block medical records in U turn on CfH IT project
Labour Ministers have bowed to the complete distrust some patients have of the planned National Health Service electronic patient record by agreeing they will be able to place a total block on their records being uploaded to the system - rather than just a bar on them being shared. Precisely how they will be able to do that, however, has yet to be established ahead of pilot projects planned for the spring.
MPs don’t like the proposals
MPs will hold inquiry into £12bn (NPfIT) NHS IT plan
Wed 29 Nov 06- The House of Commons' Health Committee has agreed to hold an inquiry into key facets of the £12.4bn NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) after some MPs expressed concerns that the scheme may be foundering. The decision reverses a resolution taken by the parliamentary committee only weeks ago not to hold an inquiry, and vindicates a campaign led by leading academics, Health Direct, Computer Weekly and MPs.
Doctors don’t like the proposals:
November 21, 2006
GPs revolt over patient files privacy on flagship IT system
About 50% of family doctors are threatening to defy government instructions to automatically put patient records on a new national database because of fears that they will not be safe, a Guardian poll reveals today. It shows that GPs are expressing grave doubts about access to the "Spine" - an electronic warehouse being built to store information on about 50 million patients - and how information on it could be vulnerable to hackers, bribery and blackmail.
Staff and users don’t like the proposals:
NHS and suppliers struggle with basics on CfH patient record system
Thu 2 Nov 06- The National Health Service and its suppliers are struggling to get in place the basic building blocks for the planned national electronic patient record (Connected for Health). The NHS financial deficit from last year and a shortage of resources to train staff appear to be compounding problems linking old systems with the new ones, as well as difficulties in migrating old data to the new systems.
Even the gravy train contractors don’t like the proposals:
Accenture drops out of NHS's NPfIT IT project
Thu 28 Sep 06- US consultancy firm Computer Sciences Corporation has taken over as the largest regional contractor on the NHS's troubled £6.2bn IT overhaul after rival group Accenture yesterday exited two 10-year contracts with the health service worth £2bn. CSC, already the lead contractor on a £973m contract in the north-west of England, is now charged with digitising the largely paper-based systems in GP surgeries, hospitals and other NHS trusts in the east and north-east of England.
So Mr Nicholson why continue with this “fundamentally flawed” IT project when you have the opportunity to review it’s purpose?
He was speaking at a recent conference with a wide range of interested parties at which concerns about the confidentiality and security of the system were aired, along with debates about how to get doctors, nurses and managers to own the programme, while speeding its implementation.
His conclusion that he had "seen no evidence" that a review was needed was greeted with disappointment by Martyn Thomas, a spokesman for 23 computer academics who have been calling for a review and who had earlier challenged Mr Nicholson to launch one.
The academics maintain that there remain questions about the technical architecture and security of the system while arguing that it is displaying many of the symptoms of past large scale IT failures.
Mr Nicholson said the programme did need to be reformed and needed to become more "self critical in a very open and public way".
There were questions about whether it was trying to do "too much on too broad a front" and needed to be "focused down" on elements that could bring rapid benefits to patients, while the balance between national and local responsibilities needed to be resolved, he said.
Responsibility for implementation is being shifted away from Connecting for Health, the national programme, to strategic health authorities, with all NHS organisations now being told to produce and budget for an IT implementation plan.
However, the changes carry the risk that any significant slowing down of the project, or any big move away from national standardisation, could open up the NHS to claims for contract variation from the big suppliers - something both sides appear keen to avoid.
From:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/29449c58-b263-11db-a79f-0000779e2340.html
When David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive, said nothing "has led me to believe that we are wildly off course" or that "a major review of the programme is required at this particular stage" he demonstrates either incompetence or deep ignorance.
Even the basic requirements for the Connected for Health IT system have yet to be decided:
Patients don’t like the proposals:
December 21, 2006
Patients win partial right to block medical records in U turn on CfH IT project
Labour Ministers have bowed to the complete distrust some patients have of the planned National Health Service electronic patient record by agreeing they will be able to place a total block on their records being uploaded to the system - rather than just a bar on them being shared. Precisely how they will be able to do that, however, has yet to be established ahead of pilot projects planned for the spring.
MPs don’t like the proposals
MPs will hold inquiry into £12bn (NPfIT) NHS IT plan
Wed 29 Nov 06- The House of Commons' Health Committee has agreed to hold an inquiry into key facets of the £12.4bn NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) after some MPs expressed concerns that the scheme may be foundering. The decision reverses a resolution taken by the parliamentary committee only weeks ago not to hold an inquiry, and vindicates a campaign led by leading academics, Health Direct, Computer Weekly and MPs.
Doctors don’t like the proposals:
November 21, 2006
GPs revolt over patient files privacy on flagship IT system
About 50% of family doctors are threatening to defy government instructions to automatically put patient records on a new national database because of fears that they will not be safe, a Guardian poll reveals today. It shows that GPs are expressing grave doubts about access to the "Spine" - an electronic warehouse being built to store information on about 50 million patients - and how information on it could be vulnerable to hackers, bribery and blackmail.
Staff and users don’t like the proposals:
NHS and suppliers struggle with basics on CfH patient record system
Thu 2 Nov 06- The National Health Service and its suppliers are struggling to get in place the basic building blocks for the planned national electronic patient record (Connected for Health). The NHS financial deficit from last year and a shortage of resources to train staff appear to be compounding problems linking old systems with the new ones, as well as difficulties in migrating old data to the new systems.
Even the gravy train contractors don’t like the proposals:
Accenture drops out of NHS's NPfIT IT project
Thu 28 Sep 06- US consultancy firm Computer Sciences Corporation has taken over as the largest regional contractor on the NHS's troubled £6.2bn IT overhaul after rival group Accenture yesterday exited two 10-year contracts with the health service worth £2bn. CSC, already the lead contractor on a £973m contract in the north-west of England, is now charged with digitising the largely paper-based systems in GP surgeries, hospitals and other NHS trusts in the east and north-east of England.
So Mr Nicholson why continue with this “fundamentally flawed” IT project when you have the opportunity to review it’s purpose?
posted by Dr Search- Principal Consultant at the Search Clinic at
10:15 AM
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