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It is important to recognise that by 2010 some progress has
been made and
the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has not been a complete disaster.
For example in the electronic transfer of prescriptions
to pharmacies and the broadband network, both are seen
to be progressing well and there has also been progress
in the implementation of Choose & Book, picture
archiving and Pacs.
However the national Care Records System has been
scaled back. It is already four years behind schedule
having been scheduled for completion during 2010, but it is
now expected to be 2014 at the earliest.
With an election due during in 2010, it is
possible that more statements will be made on NPfIT as
the parties begin to set out their policies in more
detail. The Conservatives have already called for a
moratorium on Government IT projects, should they form
the next government but Labour it appears, is backing
NPfIT, though their support appeared to waver late last
year.
Indeed Chancellor Alistair Darling refused to rule
out scrapping the programme altogether as a cost-cutting
measure. Prior to the Pre-Budget Report in December he
said that: “The
NHS has quite an expensive IT system
that, frankly, is not essential for the front line.
That’s something we do not need to go ahead with just
now.”
However, Health Secretary Andy Burnham immediately
distanced himself from any suggestion that the
government was intending to cancel the programme.
http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/newsroom/news-stories/npfitburnham
In the
House of Commons he said that the NHS could
not function without it, adding: “The programme is a key
part of delivering modern, safe, joined-up healthcare.
It is supporting the on-going reform of the NHS by
giving choice and convenience to patients.”
The Conservatives alleged that the
government was trying to sort out a new deal with
suppliers for the NPfIT just ahead of the 2010 General
Election. The Tories claim that the deal was going ahead
in a bid to ‘tie the hands’ of the new government who
would have to proceed with it. Shadow Health Minister
Stephen O’Brien said that Whitehall is trying to reset
the contracts within the next month to make it harder
for the next government to cancel them.
However Mike O’Brien, the health Minister denied this
saying: “I’m certainly not going to get into a situation
where, because we are approaching a general election at
some day soon, the whole of government stops and we
can’t make any contracts with suppliers of key NHS
equipment. That would be complete nonsense.”
This spat aside, there seems little doubt that the
programme will survive, despite the problems it has
experienced. However, whoever takes charge of the health
service following the election will have to deal with a
system suffering something of a crisis of confidence. It
has faced a number of setbacks in its relatively short
existence and there are many all too willing to render
it deeply flawed and even unworkable.
As always this is a time of great change and tension
with the NHS as a whole. It is examined critically as
never before and issues such as the MRSA super bug, NHS
waiting lists and nurses pay all combine to keep the
health service in the headlines at all times. The latest
report into failings at the
Mid-Staffordshire Foundation
Trust, termed by many as the worst hospital scandal in
10 years, will ensure that the NHS and its efficiencies
or otherwise will never be far from the headlines.
Naturally it will also be a key theme of the election
campaign with all parties keen to show that the NHS is
safe in their hands.
http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~fguerin/teaching/CS5038/assessment/
essays/essays_from_2006/groupA/NPfIT%20problems.htm
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