NHS records project is thrown into confusion
Sarah Arnott writes in The Independent about the Fujitsu’s withdrawl from the NPfIT:
Fujitsu became the second major supplier to withdraw from the £12bn National Programme for NHS IT yesterday, prompting another round of the perennial game of “why do government technology projects always go wrong?”
Four years since it signed the original £896m deal for upgrading hospital systems to support a nationwide electronic bookings and digital patient records, the Japanese company could not reach an agreement with Connecting for Health (CfH), the agency running the programme, about how changes to the requirements should be reflected in the payment terms. “Regrettably and despite best efforts by all parties, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the core Fujitsu contract that is acceptable to all parties,” CfH said.
She reflects on the possible implications for the proposed National Identity Scheme:
The one big scheme left on the books is identity cards. The biggest lesson to be learned from the NHS is not about contract terms or technical requirements, but is about politics. ID cards are as much of a political hot potato as the NHS programme was, and we are heading for a general election. Unless the practicalities of building complex systems can be squared with the even more complex organisations behind them, the prognosis is not good.
