The challenge
NHS patient records were fragmented across incompatible local systems.
The case
Launched in 2002, England's National Programme for IT aimed to create a single electronic care record for every NHS patient, using large regional contracts with major suppliers. It became one of the largest civilian IT projects in the world. Hospitals and doctors had little say in the design, suppliers withdrew or missed deadlines, and core systems were delivered years late or not at all. The government announced in 2011 that the program would be dismantled. The National Audit Office put actual costs at £7.3 billion to March 2012 and the forecast total cost at £9.8 billion, a figure that still left out some future contract costs.
Why it didn't work
Top-down design that ignored the clinicians who had to use the systems, plus inflexible mega-contracts, made failure likely. Smaller, user-led projects with room to change course are safer.
Sources
- House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (2013). The dismantled National Programme for IT in the NHS.
- National Audit Office (2013). Review of the final benefits statement for programmes previously managed under the National Programme for IT in the NHS.
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