PRIVATE EYE 1221
17-30.10.08
Game, reset, match
As belts tighten around the country the spending of taxpayers' money
on rubbishy IT projects knows no limits.
Figures released by Health Minister, Ben Bradley, over the summer
reveal that the key contracts to install new software across the NHS
under the "National Programme for IT" have escalated in value from
those advertised.
The big leap is in the cost of the IT "spine" that will form the
controversial national health database. The contract with BT was
originally valued at £620m, but in the course of "reset" negotiations
has rise 60 percent to, ahem, £1bn.
Five regional monopoly supplier contracts, handed to "local service
providers" BT, Accenture, CSC and Fujitsu, have also been "reset"
with a £630m price hike to £5.62bn. £200m was down to the contract
for southern England, from which Fujitsu was ejected recently. Thos
is good news for BT as the company sniffs around Fujitsu's old
patch, and for the many former influential health service figures
now on BT's payroll. These include Sir Jonathan Michael, former
chief executive of Guys and St Thomas' s who now runs BT's efforts as
London local service provider; and Patricia Hewitt, until last year
the Health Secretary who did so much to promote the failing programme.
The latest increases will take the official £12.4bn national
programme price tag even higher. Some experts estimate that when the
expense to NHS trusts of implementing the invariably disaster-prone
IT system is included the true cost will top £30bn.
Bradshaw also revealed that terminating Fujitsu's contract leave
taxpayers liable for up to £500m in compensation, though given the
company's piss-poor performance, the lawyers are likely to argue that
nothing is due, or that money should move the other way.
Either way the huge underperforming regional monopoly contracts -
from an other of which Accenture walked away two years ago - have
proved massive millstones. But what of the man whose idea they
were, the head of the national programme who resigned last year,
Richard Granger? In his smartest move to date, Granger has decamped
to Australia and a job with KPMG's 'global health" practice.
==Connecting for Health may be an expensive disaster for the NHS but
it is certainly helping the finances of former health minister, Lord
Warner.
Warner, who was in charge of the NHS IT programme until December
2006, now has a new job advising Perot Systems, won a £108m contract
to work on Connecting for Health as a subcontractor to BT.
Latest trials in London hospitals showed the system has lost patient
records, potentially putting patients in danger. This must a matter
on concern for the Chairman of the NHS London Provider Agency, which
is charged with improving London hospital performance. His name? Er,
Lord Warner
Game, reset, match
As belts tighten around the country the spending of taxpayers' money
on rubbishy IT projects knows no limits.
Figures released by Health Minister, Ben Bradley, over the summer
reveal that the key contracts to install new software across the NHS
under the "National Programme for IT" have escalated in value from
those advertised.
The big leap is in the cost of the IT "spine" that will form the
controversial national health database. The contract with BT was
originally valued at £620m, but in the course of "reset" negotiations
has rise 60 percent to, ahem, £1bn.
Five regional monopoly supplier contracts, handed to "local service
providers" BT, Accenture, CSC and Fujitsu, have also been "reset"
with a £630m price hike to £5.62bn. £200m was down to the contract
for southern England, from which Fujitsu was ejected recently. Thos
is good news for BT as the company sniffs around Fujitsu's old
patch, and for the many former influential health service figures
now on BT's payroll. These include Sir Jonathan Michael, former
chief executive of Guys and St Thomas' s who now runs BT's efforts as
London local service provider; and Patricia Hewitt, until last year
the Health Secretary who did so much to promote the failing programme.
The latest increases will take the official £12.4bn national
programme price tag even higher. Some experts estimate that when the
expense to NHS trusts of implementing the invariably disaster-prone
IT system is included the true cost will top £30bn.
Bradshaw also revealed that terminating Fujitsu's contract leave
taxpayers liable for up to £500m in compensation, though given the
company's piss-poor performance, the lawyers are likely to argue that
nothing is due, or that money should move the other way.
Either way the huge underperforming regional monopoly contracts -
from an other of which Accenture walked away two years ago - have
proved massive millstones. But what of the man whose idea they
were, the head of the national programme who resigned last year,
Richard Granger? In his smartest move to date, Granger has decamped
to Australia and a job with KPMG's 'global health" practice.
==Connecting for Health may be an expensive disaster for the NHS but
it is certainly helping the finances of former health minister, Lord
Warner.
Warner, who was in charge of the NHS IT programme until December
2006, now has a new job advising Perot Systems, won a £108m contract
to work on Connecting for Health as a subcontractor to BT.
Latest trials in London hospitals showed the system has lost patient
records, potentially putting patients in danger. This must a matter
on concern for the Chairman of the NHS London Provider Agency, which
is charged with improving London hospital performance. His name? Er,
Lord Warner
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