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, Computer Weekly and MPs.
The inquiry, the terms of reference for which will be announced
shortly, is expected to involve the committee's members questioning
ministers and officials at a series of hearings.
MPs on the committee can take in evidence from trust executives
who are concerned about the lack of progress in the delivery of
core patient systems for hospitals, and from GPs about whether
centralised electronic health records will be secure.
The committee in October rejected an inquiry partly because some
members believed the programme was too complicated to be
investigated by non-expert MPs.
Its change of heart comes after Computer Weekly provided some
committee members with new evidence - including a confidential
briefing paper on the NPfIT from directors of informatics at a
large NHS trust. The paper expressed profound concerns about some
aspects of the NPfIT.
Computer Weekly has also learned that strong support for an
inquiry came from Dr Richard Taylor, a former hospital consultant
and the only independent MP in the House of Commons.
Taylor told Computer Weekly that he was originally not in favour
of an inquiry, but changed his mind after an informal briefing by
BT, one of the main suppliers to the NPfIT.
He said BT's briefing had been so unremittingly positive about
the programme that he found it lacked credibility, and this made
him wonder whether the programme was as successful as the supplier
claimed.
It is seven months since 23 academics, supported by this
magazine, wrote an open letter to the committee calling on its
members to ask the government to commission an independent audit
into the national programme.
Martyn Thomas, one of the 23 academics who wrote the open letter
to the health committee, said, "Speaking on behalf of the 23, we
welcome the news that the Health Committee intends to hold an
inquiry early in the new year. We intend to submit evidence to the
inquiry further supporting our call for a full, independent and
open review of the NPfIT."
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