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Inquiry to probe ?.2bn deals for NHS computer systems
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     The Government’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, is to examine whether ?.2bn ($11bn, €9.1bn) awarded to contractors to build a new computer system for the NHS has been wisely spent.

    The study into the work of the national programme for information technology in the NHS will also investigate how contracts were procured, whether they deliver value for money, and the progress made so far.

    The programme, which was set up in October 2002, plans to create an IT infrastructure for the NHS that will improve patient care by making communication between NHS staff easier (BMJ 2004;328:1156).

    It involves creating online records for all NHS patients by 2010 that relevant staff can readily access. The new computer system will also provide facilities for GPs to book hospital appointments directly, allow doctors to transmit prescriptions and test results, such as x ray images, and provide the means to audit the quality of patient care.

    The new systems will gradually be rolled out across England from this year and are due to be completed by 2010, when the healthcare and social care systems are expected to be fully integrated.

    The programme has so far awarded contracts to the value of ?.2bn, nearly three times the ?.3bn set aside by the government to fund it until 2006.

    A spokesman for the programme said: “The national programme will support better patient care by ensuring that doctors and nurses have the right information in the right place at the right time and that, through access to information, patients are given greater choice. It is a major programme that will affect everyone in the England.

    “It is only natural, and it has always been expected, that such an important programme should be the subject of a NAO report. Having largely completed our procurement phase and being well into initial implementation this is naturally an appropriate time for such a report to be done, and we welcome it.?

    Dr John Powell, chairman of the BMA’s committee on information technology and a consultant in public health, welcomed the spending review: “This programme has the potential to transform patient care and the working practices of doctors. One key aspect of evaluation will be to determine whether the programme delivers value for money. The effects on patient care and on the working lives of health professionals must also be assessed. The programme must learn from past failures of large IT projects and engage effectively with the workers who will be most affected by the changes, and I hope that the National Audit Office will report on this.?(Zosia Kmietowicz)