Blair defends under-fire NHS IT

Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended the £6.2bn NHS IT programme, saying it will help deliver a health service "fit for the 21st century".

Blair admitted to MPs in the House of Commons this week that he was not personally aware of the problems with NHS IT supplier iSoft, whose shares have crashed as a result of delays implementing some of the new systems, but said the programme is on track to "deliver real benefits".

The PM also confirmed that the total expenditure on the NHS IT contracts as of 31 March 2006 is £654m.

Blair also backed the National Audit Office (NAO) report into NHS IT, which has come under fire from some MPs for being too "gushing" amid allegations at a Public Accounts Committee meeting this week that the NAO had been bullied into toning down its criticism by the Department of Health.

He told MPs: "In the end, one of the huge benefits of having a national health service is that we can have electronic patient records that are transferable right round the system. If that happens, it means not just an end to vast amounts of paperwork in the NHS, but that things such as patient choice, for example, can become a reality."