The NHS in Scotland does not know exactly how much it
spends on IT and lacks an overarching strategy for IT development,
a public spending watchdog has warned.
In a new report, Informed to care: Managing IT to deliver
information to the NHS in Scotland, the Audit Scotland watchdog
calls for the Scottish Executive to do more to improve the way IT
supports the NHS.
The report notes that although there is no exact figure for IT
spend, the estimated £65m IT revenue budget and £35m capital budget
“falls well short” of the target 3%-4% of total health set out in
Treasury guidance.
It adds, “Funding should be based on a sound business case which
clearly specifies the justification for the investment over the
whole lifetime of the project, and the benefits that the investment
will deliver.”
But at present this only happens where capital spend on a
project is more than £2m, while a “stage gate” approach – where
funding is released on a phased basis when success criteria have
been met - is “not routinely in place”.
The auditors also expressed concern at the “limited evidence
that expected benefits are identified, monitored and
delivered”.
The report warned, “There is not an overarching information
framework or strategy to inform the development of integrated IT
solutions in the NHS in Scotland.”
It called on the Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) to
ensure that existing good practice in project and programme
management was applied consistently throughout the NHS in
Scotland.
The report was published just days after the Scottish health
service signed a £300m 11-year IT services deal with a consortium
led by Atos Origin. The contract will cover infrastructure
services, datacentre services, security management, business
continuity, helpdesk services and first-line application support
along with the roll-out of Scotland's Emergency Care Summary
system.
Audit Scotland noted that SEHD was establishing new national
governance and organisational structures for IT, reflecting good
practice, but said it was “too soon” to assess whether these were
working.
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