The
termination of Fujitsu's contract on the £12.7bn NHS IT scheme
is a sign of the programme's strength, says a government
minister.
But assurances to Parliament contrast with new uncertainties at
NHS trusts.
The comments of the minister, Baroness Thornton, show that the
departure of Fujitsu as a major supplier to the
National Programme for IT [NPfIT] has left unchanged the
government's official line that the scheme is a success - although
a report of the National Audit Office in May found that the core
NPfIT software, a
Care Records Service, will finish rolling out at least four
years later than first planned.
Baroness Thornton made her comments during a short debate on the
NPfIT in the House of Lords. The debate was initiated by a
Conservative peer, Baroness Sharples. She pointed out that two
suppliers, Accenture and Fujitsu, have quit the national
programme.
Baroness Thornton replied, "The fact that Fujitsu's contract was
terminated is in fact a sign of the programme's strength. The
programme is still on course and our contractors are not paid until
they have delivered. In that sense, no money has been lost."
But her comments about Fujitsu's departure took no account of
the deepening uncertainties facing the boards of NHS trusts in the
south of England, where the supplier was contracted in 2004 to be
local service provider.
Since Fujitsu's departure was announced at least one NHS trust
has, after repeated postponements, cancelled its go-live of the
Cerner "Millennium" system. A spokesman for
Bath's Royal United Hospital
said the trust "did not did not have sufficient confidence in the
level of support that it would receive from the suppliers, at and
beyond the go-live period, to proceed with the implementation of
Millennium".
But Baroness Thornton made no mention of the programme
difficulties. She said: "We are very confident that, over time,
this will roll out as a very successful programme we are confident
that this is moving forward at the right speed".
Tony
Collins's IT Projects blog >>