With the announcement of
Richard Granger's departure, there is a danger that the
NHS's £12.4bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT) will sink into
oblivion - and possibly not before suppliers have sought to regain
ground lost under Granger's firm financial grip.
We do not know of anyone other than Granger who could keep three
international companies, the
local service providers BT, Fujitsu and CSC, on such a tight
rein.
Whatever happens now should be informed by an independent
review. It could take as little as six weeks. Many of the NPfIT's
strengths and weaknesses would be obvious from programme papers.
The review could recommend scrapping what is never likely to work,
and suggest putting money into what will bring measurable patient
benefits.
A review is likely to reveal uncomfortable truths. But Gordon
Brown should not shrink from ordering an independent, published
review simply because officialdom likes to keep these uncomfortable
truths out of the spotlight.
NPfIT in the spotlight >>
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