By Julian Goldsmith, 14 March 2008 00:01
NEWS
The £12.4bn national NHS IT project will save the health service £1.14bn by 2014, a government report claims.
The first annual Benefits Statement published by the government estimates the National Programme for IT in the NHS has already saved £208m by March 2007.
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Of that amount, £192m was saved through the national Network for the NHS, a secure, dedicated network that carries many of the applications developed for the programme. It is expected further savings of £95m a year will be made by the network.
Another £14m was saved through the use of digital imaging and scans. This will rise to £35m now the system is in place.
And £617,000 was saved in software licensing and hardware maintenance costs, rising to £1.6m every subsequent year.
In a statement, health minister Ben Bradshaw said: "Our use of computer technology in the NHS is becoming the envy of the world. It is saving lives, saving time and saving money."
The project has not proceeded entirely without a hiccup though. In September of last year, MPs criticised the project for delays in rolling out an electronic patient records system.
It also lost its leader, Richard Granger, late last year. His post still remains vacant.
Up to last March, the NHS has spent £2.4b on the project, £390.8m of which has been paid to suppliers. By 2012, the project will cost £12.4bn in total.
Comments
There are 5 comments. Join the discussion
1. Simon Allen
QUOTE In a statement, health minister Ben Bradshaw said: "Our use of computer technology in the NHS is becoming the envy of the world. It is saving lives, saving time and saving money."
/QUOTE
As long as he believes that, then everything is OK. Govt ministers should have learnt by now to wait until a project is complete, before claiming such success.
2. Gi Fernando
Hold on - a £12.4bn project that saves £1.14bn - doesn't add up to much RoI. Also, as the complexity of health service provision increases, these systems will need to be changed.
The NHS should look at using tried and tested ways of dealing with massive scale and changing complexity at speed. e.g. The Internet and all its applications etc..., methods, best practice and innovation.
The world has moved on in terms of how innovative projects that use technology are delivered, so must the NHS and the government.
3. Karen Challinor
"The £12.4bn national NHS IT project will save the health service £1.14bn by 2014, a government report claims"
if it had cost £1.14bn and saved £12.4bn then HMG would have reason to be happy
no wonder we are enjoying the delights of a recession if this is the standard of HMG accountancy
as it is by the time it saves the NHS as much as it's initial cost it will be so old and unfit for it's then current purpose, that HMG will be spending yet more of our money to replace it with something else that no doubt will reap the same level of "savings"
4. Richard Davies
Correct me if I'm wrong but £1.14bn savings in 6 years means that in total it will take nearly 60 years for it to pay for itself in total.
12.4bn - 1.14bn = 11.26bn remaining at 2014.
11.26bn / 1.14bn = 9.8.
9.8 * 6 = Number of years remaining if you pay back 1.14bn per 6 years (58.8!!!).
To me thats a rubbish ROI and I have kept the calc very simple!
5. anonymous
Further confirmation that this will be th greatest Government IT train wreck of all time, these people are this deluded and have completely lost touch with reality.
All even more laughable, when Google have just launched free Electronic Patient Records in the USA to beta test.