IT disasters- more
news of Labour's terrible track record on expensive IT failures:
Patients
at risk from flawed £12bn NPfIT IT system
Mon, Oct 6, 2008- The NHS computer system (NPfIT) intended to
revolutionise patient care has so many software flaws that seriously ill
or badly injured patients are at risk of being inaccurately diagnosed,
according to an internal health service document.
Private
companies get access to millions of NHS medical records
Mon, Sep 29, 2008- The confidential medical records of millions
of NHS patients could be handed over to private companies under controversial
plans being drawn up by labour ministers.
NHS
appoints new IT supremos
Fri, Sep 26, 2008- The health department has finally appointed
replacements for Richard Granger, the National Health Service's IT supremo,
some six months after his departure as head of Connecting for Health,
the white elephant health service programme that aims to create an electronic
patient record system.
Labour
U Turn on medical data- NPfIT medical records a step closer
Mon, Sep 22, 2008- After another labour U turn the national electronic
record of patients’ health (NPfIT) looks finally on the cards –
five years late – after the NHS IT programme on Thursday changed
the way patients will give their consent to the system.
NHS
Choices £80m price tag- another IT disaster?
Wed, Aug 06, 2008- NHS Choices website- more bad news. Health
Direct posts NHS has signed another massive IT contract, this
time an £80m deal to create the biggest, most erudite, cradle-to-grave
healthcare website in the world. Ever.
30,000
NHS records lost as seven laptops stolen
Mon, Jul 21, 2008- Laptops containing the personal details of
more than 30,000 NHS patients have been stolen in two separate thefts-
one of which was not encrypted.
Relapse
for NPfIT white elephant records system
Thu, Jun 26, 2008- Just when the National Health Service’s
mighty and troubled £12.7bn programme to provide every patient in
England with an electronic record looked as though it might be about to
turn an important corner, it has skidded off the road again.
NHS
NPfIT white elephant hit as Fujitsu fired from IT project
Tue, June 24, 2008- The NHS’s £12.7bn NPfIT programme
to provide every patient in England with an electronic care record suffered
a severe blow as the project fired one of its key suppliers after failing
to resolve a dispute over the contract.
NHS
NPfIT will be at least four years late
Mon, June 9, 2008- It will be at least 2014 - four years later
than planned - before a single NHS electronic patient records NPfIT system
is in place in England, say auditors.
Labour
ministers ignored junior doctor recruitment warnings
Thu, May 22, 2008- Thousands of junior doctors had their careers
thrown into chaos last summer because of "inept" decisions at
the highest levels, according to a report by MPs.
Top
officials to be held to account for data losses
Tue, May 6, 2008- Senior Whitehall figures are to be held personally
responsible if their department loses or mishandles personal information,
under a range of measures designed to increase data security.
Nine
more NHS trusts admit scandalous security breaches as more personal data
is lost
Thu, May 1, 2008- Nine more NHS trusts in England have admitted
losing patient records in a fresh case of wholesale data loss by labour
government services, Health Direct has learnt.
Data
watchdog hits out at diabolical NHS trust
Wed, Apr 09, 2008- The privacy watchdog has attacked a National
Health Service trust's "clearly inadequate" records management,
in a warning to other public authorities guilty of similar failings.
NHS
NPfIT delays hit promised cash savings
Tue, Mar 25, 2008- The potential savings from the £12.4bn
NHS's NPfIT project in England have been hit by delays dogging key parts
of the programme, the labour government admits.
NHS
Direct- each call to ineffective health service costs £16
Thu, Mar 06, 2008- NHS Direct- every call answered by NHS Direct
costs taxpayers more than £16 despite attempts to cut costs at the
health helpline. A single telephone query is almost as expensive as a
visit to a GP, official figures show.
NHS
gag upheld on Dr Foster controversy
Fri,
Feb 08, 2008- A former top government statistician who claims she
was made a scapegoat by the Department of Health has failed to overturn
a gagging agreement that forbids her from talking about her departure.
Dr
Foster health information service- call for new probe
Fri Jan 18 2008- MPs should consider reopening a probe into a
contentious public private health data venture Dr Foster in the light
of concerns raised by a senior official involved in the deal, the shadow
health secretary said.
Health
ministry faces scapegoat claim over Dr Foster
Wed Jan 16 2008- The Department of Health made a "scapegoat"
of a top statistician who raised the alarm with senior officials about
the contentious public private venture Dr Foster Intelligence joint venture's
worth and its handling of information.
NHS
trusts lose patients' records
Tue Jan 08 2008- Gordon Brown was facing further political embarrassment
over the labour government's handling of personal data after the Department
of Health confirmed that nine National Health Service trusts had admitted
losing patient records.
Thousands
of patients' data lost by NHS trusts
Thu Jan 03 2008- Hundreds of thousands of confidential patient
records are believed to have gone missing in the latest lost data scandal.
NHS
frequently leaks patients' records personal medical data
Fri 14 Dec 2007- Patients' confidential medical records are regularly
being accessed by people who have no right to them, research by the BBC
has revealed. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal
that in the last year there have been several data security breaches in
the West of England.
NHS
database will weaken patient security MPs learn
Thu 22 Nov 2007- The man in charge of setting up the NHS medical
records database has admitted that "you cannot stop the wicked doing
wicked things" with information. Richard Jeavons, director of IT
implementation at the Department of Health, said there were instances
where staff "abuse their privileges".
Shocking
labour incompetent data misuse as 25 million parents exposed to risk of
ID fraud
Wed 21 Nov 2007- Health Direct asks if you remember
all those labour MPs who supported the national ID card scheme, the DNA
database and the NHS IT system? They said we had nothing to fear.....labour
said that your data will be safe with them.
NHS
shakes up £12bn NPfIT IT programme
Wed 17 Oct 2007- A big revamp of the National Health Service’s
£12bn IT programme is under way that will see NHS trusts given more choice
of how systems are installed and which software they get.
Junior
doctors' training still under fire over DoH's MMC MTAS disaster
Thu 11 Oct 2007- The Department of Health yesterday reverted
to more standard recruitment practices for junior doctors seeking training
posts for next year after the chaos that the caused with the MTAS IT application
system this year.
NHS
Choices- massive inaccuracies mar GP patient website
Mon 13 Aug 07- NHS Choices the Department of Health's flagship
website is to ask primary care trusts and GP practices to correct widespread
mistakes on the Department of Health's flagship NHS Choices website. Half
of the NHS Choices website's information on GP opening hours and a third
of practitioners' names are thought to be incorrect, Health Direct and
HSJ can reveal.
Junior
doctors still jobless in MTAS hospitals chaos
Fri 3 Aug 07- Hundreds of operations in hospitals across England
will be cancelled in the chaos as 30,000 junior doctors start new jobs
this week. The British Medical Association said that because of the scramble
to fill posts ahead of Wednesday's deadline after the collapse of the
recruitment system, consultants have been left unable to plan theatre
time.
NHS
Choices criticised for out of date, utterly dishonest, trite and patronising
information
Mon 23 Jul 07- NHS Choices the Department of Health’s new
£14 million "flagship" website contains GP practice information
which in some cases is at much as six years out-of-date, Health Direct
and EHI Primary Care has learnt.
NHS
Software suppliers may seek compensation as IT chief Grainger leaves
Wed, 20 Jun 07- The NHS could face pressure from its big three
IT suppliers- BT, CSC and Fujitsu- to change the £6bn contracts
they have signed, following Richard Granger's departure from the helm
of the world's biggest civil NPfIT project.
NHS
hospital bought computer parts off eBay waiting for NPfIT project
Thu 17 May 07- Patients are being put at risk because of delays
in implementing the new NHS computer system, according to a study of senior
managers. Parts of the £12.4 billion National Programme for IT (NPfIT)
are years behind schedule.
NHS's
NPfIT upgrade creates false patient records
Wed 9 May 07- A software upgrade under the NHS's National Programme
for IT (NPfIT) has led to hundreds of incorrect duplicate patient
records being created every day at NHS sites in Greater Manchester. A
team has been formed to prevent patient data being lost. The emergency
action raises questions about how well NPfIT systems are being tested
before going live.
Contender
for greatest of all Labour's NHS failures- MTAS Junior Doctor application
system
Mon 30 Apr 07- The crisis that is leading highly qualified junior
doctors to head abroad is the result of one of the National Health Service's
all-time great administrative cock-ups. It is has left 30,000 junior doctors
bitterly disillusioned and angry. But it also has big potential implications
for patient care.
Junior
doctors details data exposed online in MTAS fiasco
Fri 27 Apr 07- Adding insult to injury? The intimate details
of thousands of junior doctors are left wide open on the internet. The
Medical Training Application Service or MTAS is a computer system where
student and junior doctors try to apply for jobs - an IT system which
they were repeatedly assured by Labour ministers was secure.
Patients
'not getting choice of hospital'-Choose and Book broken promise
Wed 11 Apr 07- Fewer than half of NHS patients are being granted
new rights to more choice over where they have operations, more than a
year after the policy was introduced. A Government survey found that four
out of 10 people referred to hospitals by GPs recalled being offered a
choice of where to have their treatment. Since Jan 1 last year, all NHS
patients referred for most non-emergency treatments should be offered
a choice of at least four hospitals.
Hewitt
U turn and apparent apology for Doctors' MMC chaos
Wed 4 Apr 07- Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has apologised
to junior doctors over the continuing recruitment crisis. A new online
system for selecting doctors for training posts has been heavily criticised
for failing to select the best candidates. Ms Hewitt said the scheme had
caused "terrible anxiety" for junior doctors which shouldn't
have happened. The government has now offered doctors one interview but
the British Medical Association said it was "unacceptable".
Climb
down over junior doctor fiasco MMC MTAS IT system
Thu 8 Mar 07- The Labour govt backed down yesterday and agreed
to an immediate review of a flawed selection system that has left thousands
of able young doctors without the prospect of a job and many threatening
to leave the NHS. The independent review will start today and may recommend
changes to the system before the current interview round has been completed.
NHS
chief rules out review of £12bn IT system
Mon 5 Feb 07- 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"
NHS
Confidentaility at the Big Opt Out- protect your medical privacy NOW!
Fri 29 Dec 06- NHS Confidentaility aka the Big Opt Out- Protect
your privacy and campaign to preserve your medical confidentiality. Do
you want ministers, the police and over 250,000 others to be able to access
your complete medical history? If
not please sign up NOW!
Patients
win partial right to block medical records in U turn on CfH IT project
Thu 21 Dec 06- Labour Ministers have bowed to the complete distrust
some patients have of the planned National Health Service electronic patient
record Connected for Health IT £20 billion system by appearing to
agree that we will be able to place a total block on our 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
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.
GPs
revolt over patient files privacy on flagship IT system
Tue 21 Nov 06- 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.
IT
project accused of bullying- Connecting for Health underfunded and plain
wrong
Tue 14 Nov 06- Managers have attacked the Connecting for Health
IT project for 'bullying' people into talking down problems on the ground.
West Herts primary care trust IM&T service manager Roz Foad was among
speakers at an IT conference who criticised the scheme to create an NHS-wide
clinical computer system.
Warning
over privacy of 50m patient files in NHS IT project
Fri 3 Nov 06- Millions of personal medical records are to be
uploaded regardless of patients' wishes to a central national database
from where information can be made available to police and security services,
the Guardian has learned. Details of mental illnesses, abortions, pregnancy,
HIV status, drug-taking, or alcoholism may also be included, and there
are no laws to prevent DNA profiles being added. The uploading is planned
under Whitehall's bedevilled £12bn scheme to computerise the health
service.
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.
Treasury
figures reveal IT project delays totalling 17 years
Fri 13 Oct 06- The scale of the problems facing large government
information technology projects was underlined yesterday as Treasury figures
revealed delays totalling more than 17 years. The fresh details, which
came in response to a parliamentary question by the Liberal Democrats,
emerged against the background of a two-year delay to the vast £12.4bn
upgrade of the National Health Service's IT systems and as Labour prepares
to launch the procurement process for its national identity card project,
which is slated to cost £5.4bn.
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.
NHS
Health systems hit by 110 IT incidents
Tue 19 Sep 06- NHS Hospitals have been hit by more than 110 "major
incidents" affecting their information technology systems over the
past four months, according to a report in Computer Weekly. They include
the data centre crash in July which saw 80 National Health Service trusts
lose central services provided by Connecting for Health, the NHS's £12.4bn
IT programme, for up to four days. But others have seen digital X-ray
systems and patient administration systems go down, with more than 20
of them affecting more than one hospital site.
National
Audit Office pledges new report on NHS NPfIT project
Thu 7 Sep 06- The National Audit Office (NAO) is to publish a
new report into the UK's largest IT investment, the £12.4bn National
Programme for IT in the NHS. Its decision follows criticism by MPs of
the Audit Office's June 2006 report on the NHS programme. Greg Clark,
a member of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said the June
report was "the most gushing" of all NAO reports he had read.
Another member of the Public Accounts Committee, Richard Bacon, said the
NAO's report on the NPfIT was not up to the organisation's usual high
standards.
New
setback for NHS IT computer project as NPfIT "sleepwalks to disaster"
Mon 4 Sep 06- The troubled multi-billion-pound NHS computer system
suffered a fresh blow last night when it emerged that two-thirds of the
hospital trusts due to have installed an electronic patient administration
system for booking appointments with consultants by the end of October
will not meet the deadline.
Isoft
losses £343.8m- NPfIT £20 Billion project at greater risk
Fri 25 Aug 06- The company at heart of NHS reform in serious
trouble- Isoft the troubled healthcare software company that is being
investigated by the Financial Services Authority for issuing potentially
misleading statements to the market, today reported a full year pre-tax
loss of £343.8m. The Manchester-based company also revealed that
Accenture and Computer Sciences Corporation, its senior partners on different
parts of the NHS IT project, have accused it of material breach of contract.
It is denying the claims, but said that the most likely outcome was a
commercial settlement.
NHS
ID cards are doomed say officials
Tue 11 July- Tony Bliar's flagship NHS identity
cards scheme is set to fail and may not be introduced for a generation,
according to leaked Whitehall e-mails from the senior officials responsible
for the multi-billion-pound project. The problems are so serious that
ministers have been forced to draw up plans for a scaled-down “face-saving”
version to meet their pledge of phasing in the cards from 2008. However,
civil servants say there is no evidence that even this compromise is “remotely
feasible” and accuse ministers of “ignoring reality”
by pressing ahead.
NAO
warns on NHS IT systems two years late and £20bn cost climbs
Sat 17 Jun- The National Audit Office reported to
Parliament the results of its examination of the National Programme for
IT in the NHS. It found key parts of the NPfIT were running at least 2
years late and that the total cost of the project may be as much as £20
billion once all the elements are included.
Trusts
pay to end NPfIT staff supply contracts in red tape chaos
Thu
8 Jun- National Health Service trusts are having to buy themselves
out of a commitment to supply staff to companies building the NPfIT electronic
patient record system. Trusts in the south are paying Fujitsu £19m
after the service found it could not provide 50 NHS employees to help
with the programme.
£20bn
(NpfIT) computer failures left NHS patients waiting longer
Mon 5 Jun-
Evidence that the Labour government’s troubled £20 billion
National Health Service computer system has lengthened waiting times for
patients has emerged for the first time. It was hoped that a pilot scheme
for the technology at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust in Oxford
would show the benefits of the delayed system. Instead, when it went “live”,
the computers crashed, data could not be found and some patients found
that they were facing among the longest waits for operations in the country.
Health
service faces up to costly IT operations
Wed 31 May-
The National Health Service is likely to spend close to £20bn over
the next decade on its ambitious programme to create an electronic record
for every patient in England, Lord Warner, the health minister in charge
of the programme, has said yesterday.
NHS
electronic patient IT records project (CfH) will be at least two years
late
Tue 30 May-
Plans to give all 50m NHS patients in England a full electronic medical
record are running at least two to two-and-a-half years late, Lord Warner,
the health minister who oversees the project, has confirmed. He also admitted
that the full cost of the programme was likely to be nearer £20bn
than the widely quoted figure of £6.2bn. The latter figure covered
only the national contracts for the systems’ basic infrastructure
and software applications, he said.
Labour
U-turn over ID card medical details
Wed
26 Apr- Identity cards are to carry medical details, despite repeated
Labour government assurances that concerns about privacy meant it would
not happen. A minister at the Home Office disclosed it wants people to
put personal health information on the cards to give doctors information
for emergencies.
Anatomy
of a £15bn gamble- CfH's NHS IT busted flush
Mon 17 Apr-
The new NHS computer system could be the biggest IT disaster in history,
warn experts. Inside a leading hospital in Oxford, expensive new computers
were humming away just before Christmas when disaster struck. The Nuffield
Orthopaedic Centre was at the forefront of a multi-billion-pound revolution
to modernise the entire computer system of the National Health Service
— and the screens had suddenly frozen
Top
UK IT experts call for audit of NHS (NPfIT) programme
Tue 11 Apr-
Leading computer science experts are this week writing to parliament calling
for an independent audit of the NHS national programme for IT (NPfIT).
The signatories, 23 of the UK's top academics in computer-related sciences,
are concerned about the technical feasibility of a fully integrated national
programme. Their open letter to the House of Commons Health Select Committee
echoes a call last week by Computer Weekly and Health Direct for an independent
audit of the project.
NPfIT
NHS plan is evolving but one-size-fits-all is a fundamental flaw, says
hospital chief
Mon
20 Mar- Sir Jonathan Michael, a top NHS executive, who spoke at a
healthcare symposium at London's City University last week pointed to
a fundamental flaw in the NHS's IT-driven modernisation. The flaw Michael
sees in the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is its centralised, standardised
approach at a time when the health service is decentralising. The chief
executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Michael wants
IT support for the specific ways people work in particular parts of his
organisation, such as the accident and emergency department.
NHS
care records IT roll-out raises patient safety fears
Fri 17 Mar-
The first go-live in the South of England of a pivotal part of the NHS's
£6.2bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has caused significant
disruption at a hospital in Oxford and put the safety of patients at potential
risk, according to NHS documents. Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre filed a
"serious untoward incident" report with the government's National
Patient Safety Agency after the fraught implementation at the hospital
of a Care Records Service for sharing electronic records nationwide.
Junior
Doctors' new IT MMC recruitment system is a disaster
Mon 6 Mar-
It is an irony that many of the questions junior doctors must answer when
they fill in the new form to apply for hospital jobs relate to their leadership
skills and ability to work as part of a team. The form is part of a new
applications procedure, called Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), which
involves no human interaction whatsoever. Hospitals are banned from holding
interviews, having to rely instead upon a computer "dating"
system that supposedly matches the applicant to the job.
Doctors
worry about cost and privacy concerns in NHS's IT plans
Fri 13 Jan-
A survey reveals a growing number of clinicians are worried about roll-out
of national IT systems. Support among the key target users of the world's
largest civil computer programme, the IT-based modernisation of the NHS,
has largely dissipated despite a major communications drive in recent
months, according to a new survey.
Patients
lives put at risk by NHS computer fault
Thu 12 Jan-
Hundreds of patients have been put at risk after a computer glitch caused
parts of their medical notes to disappear and attach to other patients'
records. The errors were caused by faulty software in the controversial
GPASS computer system used by more than 80% of GPs in Scotland.
Mon 14 Nov-
A computer project costing £6.2 billion that is central to Tony
Blair’s National Health Service reforms is in “grave”
danger of being “derailed”, leaked Whitehall e-mails reveal.
The warning has been issued by Richard Granger, the £250,000-a-year
civil servant in charge of what has been billed as the world’s biggest
civil information technology project.
Thu 10 Nov-
Health Direct's blog reproduces this editorial from the Financial Times:
Last week the sound of smashing crockery and breaking furniture could
be heard from inside the Department of Health.
Thu 3 Nov-
The flagship Choose and Book electronic booking application will be at
least a year late by the time it is rolled out across England NHS chief
executive, Sir Nigel Crisp, said yesterday. Speaking to the House of Commons
public accounts committee (PAC) he said that patients would still be offered
a choice of four or five providers by the end of next month, but most
of the appointments would be booked manually or over the phone.
Fri 30 Sep-
Every PCT is to miss it's Choose and Book target. The Department of Health
(DH) has admitted that not a single primary care trust in England is likely
to be in a position to meet its next Choose and Book target and is relying
on paper solutions to deliver its flagship policy on choice at referral.
Mon 8 Aug- Frontline
health service staff are "heavily demoralised" over the lack
of information and communication around the £6.2bn NHS IT modernisation
programme. The delays and costs are causing headaches for frontline NHS
staff, claims reasearch.
Wed 29 June- The
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) outlined its concerns regarding
the proposed national identity card scheme, including the establishment
of a national register of citizens’ personal details.
Mon 27 June- ID Cards
aka "NHS entitlement cards" are a high risk claims the London
School of Economics (LSE)
Wed 22 June- GPs
have voted to oppose the new Patients' IT "choose and book"
system in its current form, citing numerous objections.
Fri 10 June-
An international company that failed to meet deadlines to provide software
for hospital patient booking systems across the south of England has become
the first victim of a 'get-tough' approach to delivery of the national
IT programme.
Mon 30 May-
The government's plans to introduce identity cards were dealt a body blow
last night after it emerged the true cost of the scheme could top £18
billion, more than triple the official estimate.
Thu 26 May-
The ID Cards aka the "NHS Entitlement Card" Bill returned to
Parliament and is as bad as it ever was- and in some ways worse.
Thur, 12 May-
The NHS stands to lose more than 160,000 hours in the working time of
doctors, nurses and other health staff as they register for smart ID cards
which give them access to new national systems.
Fri 6 May- 'Choose
and lose' - how another one of Labour's flagship health policies fell
apart. Family doctors are warning that another of the Government's much-trumpeted
health targets, which is costing taxpayers more than £300 million
to set up and run this year, is so misguided that it is likely to backfire.
Fri, 22 April-
A top official has been suspended at a critical stage in the £6bn
NHS programme to implement electronic health records and hospital appointment
booking systems.
Wed, March 30-
Privacy fears over NHS database- there are fears patients will have no
say over what details are stored. A new NHS computer database may threaten
the privacy of patients' medical records.
Fri, March 25- Public
sector information technology projects and their suppliers are grappling
with a shortage of key skills on which their successful delivery depends,
Richard Granger, director of the National Health Service's 6.2bn pound
IT programme has warned
Thur, March 24-
The current identity card bill proposals are 'too complex, technically
unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and
confidence', according to a new report published by academics from the
London School of Economics and Political Science.
Nine-month
delay for 'common solution' IT implementation- Delivery of
the 'common solution', the standardised clinical IT system being developed
for London and the south of England, will be delayed by at least nine
months. The delay is the latest to affect the national programme for IT,
following problems with the delivery of choose and book and the NHS 'data
spine'. Originally due by this October, the 'common solution', which will
eventually deliver a fully integrated patient records system, now looks
unlikely to be available until June 2006 at the earliest.
Ten
government IT projects hit 'red light' status- Whitehall
has revealed some details of its 10 most 'at-risk' IT projects, following
a Freedom of Information request. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
has released details of IT projects found to be most at risk across Whitehall,
but is keeping the projects' identities secret.
MPs
told prescribers plans may jeopardise patient choice- Pharmacist
representatives have told MPs that plans to allow GPs and other prescribers
to nominate a patient’s pharmacy for electronic transmission of
prescriptions (ETP) will jeopardise patient choice.
Even the Financial
Times is against the farcical ID card- which the NHS is depending on so
that the state can limit our access to the NHS services: It's lead editorial
for Tuesday 30th November 2004:
Identity parade fails
to convince
There are so many benefits of having identity cards, according
to the government, that ministers should probably be resigning for their
failure to introduce them earlier. ID cards will help the fight against
terrorism and organised crime, expose illegal immigrants, protect public
services against fraud and fend off identity theft. Since passports will
soon include biometric data, cards will cost a bargain extra £35
a head, plus public investment of £3bn.
Yet British people
walk around without ID cards for good reasons - including the impossibility
of producing the promised benefits without draconian legislation. There
are important risks in the scheme that ministers fail to acknowledge.
And the cost is likely to be much higher, as the experience of government
information technology projects has shown.
ID cards, as the prime
minister and home secretary both say, are no guarantee of security. The
terrorists who attacked the US on September 11 2001 travelled under their
own identities. The Madrid bombers were not deterred by Spain's ID cards.
Cards will have to
be produced within 24 or 48 hours of a request - little deterrent for
illegal immigrants, money-launderers or drug traffickers. Meanwhile, millions
of visitors, who may include terrorists and criminals, will not be carrying
the ID card. Both drawbacks could be remedied by making it compulsory
to carry such ID - but that would be an unacceptable change in the relationship
between the individual and the British state. As for welfare fraud, sick
people are unlikely to be refused medical treatment because they cannot
produce a card - and nor will the penniless be left to starve. And since
false passports and false driving licences are readily available, ID cards
will be no guarantee against forged identity.
Indeed, identity theft
could become easier if ID cards are accepted as sole proof of identity.
And criminals will quickly get access to the national identity register
- as they already do to other government databases.
Last, the government's
record on big IT projects gives no confidence that the scheme will be
introduced on time or to budget - or even at all. Earlier this month,
the National Audit Office highlighted the serious shortages of public
sector staff with the necessary project and programme management skills.
It found that fewer than a quarter of projects reviewed were going smoothly,
and a quarter were in serious trouble. Shortly after, the catastrophic
failures of the new IT system at the Child Support Agency were revealed,
with the minister in charge threatening to pull the plug on it.
Ministers
believe they can sell ID cards to the electorate in the current atmosphere
of fear and insecurity. But the experience of wartime identity cards shows
how quickly they can become unpopular once the immediate threat has waned.
If the government persists with its plans, it will eventually be punished
at the polls.
Please note-
we give respect where respect is due.
Whilst we applaud and respect the NHS staff that work and deliver incredible
results to patients under pressure from ridiculous amounts of red tape
in adverse conditions, we deplore the armies of paper pushers that the
Labour government is creating in their desperate attempt to justify
the huge amounts of tax that they are wasting on the NHS.
We are a "not for profit" organisation who believes that in
the new era of openness under the Freedom of Information Act that it
is in the interests of all parties to be open and honest about the value
for money that the new Labour reforms are achieving for all of the billions
of pounds that they are costing.
Please
have a look at our free online web blog service
for a compete listing of all of our NHS stories.
Homepage
I Web Blog I
Weekly Review I NHS
Cutback and Closures I PFI
ripoffs I
Failing staff I IT
Disasters I HIV
Doubles I MRSA
superbugs I Preventable
crisis I STDs
double I
NICE Blight I
Red tape costs I Nanny
State I Labour
Liars I
2006 News I
2007
News I About
us I Sitemaps
I
NHS Petitions I Links
I
|
