By Polly Raymond, 20 April 1999 00:25
NEWS A British Medical Association (BMA) representative has criticised UK Department of Health plans to sink £20m of funds into an online patient booking system. Grant Kelly, chairman of the BMA's GP Information Technology subcommittee, claims the system is more about winning votes than improving the health service. The National Booked Admissions Programme is a scheme that lets doctors and consultants book their patients straight into hospital schedules online. The system is designed to improve the booking process and result in a quicker, more efficient service, according to its developers. Last week the NHS (National Health Service) announced plans to plough £20m into the project following a £5m pilot project last year. But Kelly claims the pilot's success has been overstated. He told Silicon.com he is puzzled as to why the government took so long to sing the praises of the project if it was so successful. "If it had been a glorious success, they would have passed it to me immediately," he said. The driving force behind the government's commitment to the project is more sinister, according to Kelly. "They're not in the slightest bit concerned with how well the project works - they're just trying to win votes," he claimed The Department of Health was unavailable for comment.
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