Five years into the NHS'sNational Programme for IT(NPfIT)
aPublic Accounts Committee reporthas
depicted the scheme as a failure.
It is important to remember that this report is from a
Labour-dominated committee, and its credibility and accuracy have
been checked by the National Audit Office.
The report's generally hostile tone should come as no surprise.
Computer Weekly warned in early 2002, when the NPfIT was
announced, that it was overly ambitious. But government departments
rarely listen to those they arrogantly dismiss as nay-sayers. They
fix on a good idea then surround themselves with suppliers and
others who will support it.
To counter this dangerous lack of challenge, Computer Weekly has
shone a light into some dark corners over the years.
We have often been criticised for doing so.
But the Public Accounts Committee goes far beyond any of our
criticism.
The problems are not the fault of the IT specialists, executives
and clinicians who have tried to make a success of local
implementations - there have been some islands of success. What has
failed is the process. Accountability has been, for all practical
purposes, non-existent.
The worst that can happen now is for the government and the
Department of Health to go where they feel most comfortable: into
denial mode. The committee's report is a force for good, a
motivation for change. It is an opportunity for a radical
rethink.
For the sake of patients, taxpayers and the NHS, the programme's
remaining £10bn must be spent with only care and treatment in mind.
It should not be wasted on trying to prove that the original scheme
was sound after all.
Further reading
Tony Collins' project management blog
Recent developments in the NHS National Programme for
IT