Computer Weekly has closely followed the national
programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS since its inception in 2002.
Some of the key events and turning points that led to the call for
an independent review of the national programme are outlined
below.
March 2004
At an NHS conference in London, to which journalists were not
invited, the health minister John Hutton and Christopher Bland,
chairman of BT, who was knighted for his NHS work in 1993, speak of
the NPfIT's risks and potential benefits.
Bland, whose company has won the biggest contracts in its
history to implement key parts of the programme, says BT is excited
by the challenge but "somewhat frightened by the enormity and
complexity of it".
Winning more than £2bn in NPfIT contracts, Bland says, "We feel
slightly like a dog chasing a car... What do we do if we catch it?
Well, we've caught it."
September 2004
Aidan Halligan announces his intention to leave the NHS. He is
the second senior responsible owner of the NPfIT to leave, the
first being John Pattison, who retired. Halligan was the most
senior figure in the Department of Health to be openly critical of
aspects of the NPfIT, while remaining an enthusiastic supporter of
the overall plans.
October 2004
Computer Weekly reveals that the NPfIT could cost a minimum of
£18.6bn - three times more than the announced figure - with a large
part of the bill falling locally, on NHS trusts.
In a written statement to Computer Weekly, the NPfIT says that
the business case for the programme estimates the total cost to be
three to five times that of the procurement costs - the procurement
costs being £6.2bn.
January 2005
A Computer Weekly reporter is barred from a press conference on
the NPfIT chaired by the then health minister John Hutton at
Richmond House, headquarters of the Department of Health.
More than a dozen journalists from national newspapers and
magazines pass through a security gate to enter the press
conference. But when Computer Weekly's reporter approaches, a
Department of Health press officer stands in front of the gate,
barring entry. The barring denied an opportunity to Computer Weekly
to ask the health minister about the NPfIT.
March 2005
Computer Weekly calls for an independent audit of the NPfIT.
Editor Hooman Bassirian says, "A forward-looking review would
complement a study on the project's value for money by public
spending watchdog the National Audit Office." The campaign is
backed by MPs.
A spokesman for the NPfIT says, "We should like to place on
record that we do no think it is appropriate for a commercial media
organisation to be calling for an independent review of the
national programme when that is rightly the role of the National
Audit Office, which reports to parliament."