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Government to review policy on integrated care records

Government to review policy on integrated care records Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: ‘The D epartment of Health (DH) is not going to achieve its original aim of a fully integrated care records system across the NHS. Trying to create a one-size-fits-all system was a massive risk and has proven to be unworkable. ‘The department has been unable to demonstrate what benefits have been delivered from the £2.7 billion spent on the project so far. ‘It should urgently review whether it is worth continuing with the remaining elements of the care records system. The £4.3 billion the department expects to spend might be better used to buy systems that are proven to work.’ A DH spokesperson said: ‘The government recognises the weaknesses of a top-down, centrally-imposed IT system. Although elements of the programme have been delivered successfully, the policy approach previously taken has failed to engage the NHS sufficiently. ‘We have reduced spending on the programme by £1.3 billion. We are determined to deliver even more value for money from the programme. The findings of the public accounts committee, alongside the outcome of the Major Project Review Authority, will contribute to the planning under way for future informatics support to the modernised NHS.’ RCN head of policy Howard Catton said: ‘Nurses will be angry that the DH is unable to demonstrate the benefit from £2.7 billion when they are facing the consequences of a pay freeze. It is worrying that the DH is not getting value for public sector spending, especially at a time when services will be increasingly outsourced.’ NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said: ‘The report nails down the problems that have hounded the programme for years. While progress has been made in a number of areas, our members have raised concerns about the costly, centralised system that is on too large a scale to be fully effective. ‘Technology is crucial for planning, commissioning and delivering services. All systems need to ensure that information can be moved easily and effectively across providers to ensure patients receive integrated care, but this doesn’t necessarily require a one-size-fits-all replacement of all existing NHS IT systems.’ Find out more For copies of the public accounts committee report, go to http://tinyurl.com/3m7by45 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nursing Management Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Government to review policy on integrated care records

Lipley , Nick
Nursing Management , Volume 18 (5) – Aug 31, 2011
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Publisher
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
Copyright
©2012 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.
Subject
News
ISSN
1354-5760
eISSN
2047-8976
DOI
10.7748/nm2011.09.18.5.4.p6190
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: ‘The D epartment of Health (DH) is not going to achieve its original aim of a fully integrated care records system across the NHS. Trying to create a one-size-fits-all system was a massive risk and has proven to be unworkable. ‘The department has been unable to demonstrate what benefits have been delivered from the £2.7 billion spent on the project so far. ‘It should urgently review whether it is worth continuing with the remaining elements of the care records system. The £4.3 billion the department expects to spend might be better used to buy systems that are proven to work.’ A DH spokesperson said: ‘The government recognises the weaknesses of a top-down, centrally-imposed IT system. Although elements of the programme have been delivered successfully, the policy approach previously taken has failed to engage the NHS sufficiently. ‘We have reduced spending on the programme by £1.3 billion. We are determined to deliver even more value for money from the programme. The findings of the public accounts committee, alongside the outcome of the Major Project Review Authority, will contribute to the planning under way for future informatics support to the modernised NHS.’ RCN head of policy Howard Catton said: ‘Nurses will be angry that the DH is unable to demonstrate the benefit from £2.7 billion when they are facing the consequences of a pay freeze. It is worrying that the DH is not getting value for public sector spending, especially at a time when services will be increasingly outsourced.’ NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said: ‘The report nails down the problems that have hounded the programme for years. While progress has been made in a number of areas, our members have raised concerns about the costly, centralised system that is on too large a scale to be fully effective. ‘Technology is crucial for planning, commissioning and delivering services. All systems need to ensure that information can be moved easily and effectively across providers to ensure patients receive integrated care, but this doesn’t necessarily require a one-size-fits-all replacement of all existing NHS IT systems.’ Find out more For copies of the public accounts committee report, go to http://tinyurl.com/3m7by45

Journal

Nursing Management – Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Published: Aug 31, 2011

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