Urgent action needed on £12bn NHS project

The executives in charge of the biggest ever IT project in the UK - the £12.4bn NHS technology update - need to take action fast if the project is to stay on track.

An influential committee of MPs has warned urgent "remedial action" must take place if the long-term interests of NHS patients and taxpayers are to be protected.

The NHS' National Programme for IT is the largest single IT investment in the UK to date, with spending on the programme expected to hit £12.4bn over 10 years.

At the core of the project is the NHS Care Records Service, which is designed to replace local NHS computer systems with more integrated packages and make parts of a patient's clinical record available electronically throughout England.

The stakes are high. If it succeeds the programme could make significant improvements to the quality of patient care. But if it fails, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned it could set back IT developments in the NHS for years, and divert money and staff time from front-line patient services.

Edward Leigh MP, chairman of the PAC, which has published a report on the progress made in implementing the NHS IT programme, said the Department of Health must "get a grip" on what it and the NHS are spending.

He said in a statement: "It must thrash out with its suppliers a robust delivery timetable in which everyone, including local NHS organisations, can have more confidence. It must also launch reviews of the ability of the suppliers and local service providers to deliver against their contracts."

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The PAC warned the piloting and deployment of the shared electronic patient clinical record is already running two years behind schedule. The group said the suppliers to the programme are "clearly struggling to deliver", and warned the Department of Health "is unlikely to complete the programme anywhere near its original schedule".

The committee warned much work is still needed to win hearts and minds in the NHS, especially among clinicians. And it said that four years after the start of the programme there is still much uncertainty about its costs for the local NHS and the value of the benefits it should achieve.

In response health minister Lord Hunt said the PAC report is based on a National Audit Office report that is now a year out of date, and said since then substantial progress has been made.

He said in a statement: "The NHS IT programme will provide safer, faster and more efficient healthcare for patients, and we do not underestimate the challenges of delivering a system of this size and complexity."