03 September 2004
An inquiry into a multibillion pound health service IT programme is a routine study and not prompted by particular concerns, the National Audit Office insisted this week.
Both the NAO and the National Programme for IT, which is worth £6.2bn, said an audit was to be expected when such a large amount of taxpayers' money was involved.
The National Programme will link GP surgeries and hospitals, and provide electronic booking services as well as electronic prescribing. Patients' medical records will also be held electronically and will be available to clinicians 24 hours a day.
Contracts for the programme were awarded early this year and the Department of Health says systems are up and running at a number of pilot sites.
'Now the major contracts have been signed, and with the inevitably long process of implementation, it is time for a stock take and report to Parliament,' said an NAO spokesman. 'It was to be expected that such an important programme would be subject to a report and the fact that we are starting work now does not imply any particular concerns about the programme.'
The NAO study will examine the procurement processes used for placing the contracts and whether the deals are likely to deliver value for money. It will also scrutinise the implementation programme and how it has progressed.
It is due to report in summer 2005.
The programme has been controversial since it was launched in 2002. Doctors fear computer hackers will prey on patients' medical notes. A number of companies that have pulled out of or been removed from the programme complained that the NHS was too inflexible.
The National Programme retorted that it was just driving a hard bargain.
The National Programme has welcomed the audit. A spokesman insisted that now the contracts were signed, the costs were set in stone, contrary to some reports that it was rising costs that had sparked the NAO's interest.
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