10 October 2003
Patients across England should be able to book hospital appointments electronically within two years, the Department of Health said this week as it awarded the first contract in its multi-billion pound NHS information technology initiative.
The electronic booking system is one of the key elements of the health service's National Programme for IT. It will connect 30,000 GPs to 270 acute, community and mental health hospitals and allow patients to choose where and when they are treated at the time of referral by their GPs.
The software, which will be provided by SchlumbergerSema under a five-year, £64.5m contract, will be introduced from next summer and is due to be completed by the end of 2005.
The National Programme has been dogged by controversy all summer with US defence giants Lockheed Martin pulling out of the competition for other elements of the initiative.
And last month the National Programme said it had 'deselected' outsourcing specialist EDS from the bidding to provide the
e-booking system, leaving a straight fight between SchlumbergerSema and Fujitsu.
Health Secretary John Reid said e-booking would put patients in charge. 'Electronic booking will take away the uncertainty and anxiety of waiting to be sent an appointment in the post which may not be suitable for the patient. With electronic booking, patients will be able to choose appointments convenient to them.
However, the British Medical Association insisted there was not enough capacity in the NHS to offer patients the appointments they wanted.
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