health secretary's npfit statement to the hous

Health Secretary's NPfIT statement to the House of Commons

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has told MPs that the Government has no intention of cancelling the National Programme for IT and has clarified that "the NHS could not function without it".

Mr Burnham made the following statement:

"Mr Speaker, I want to begin by challenging the myth put around by the Honourable Gentleman that NHS IT has been a waste. The programme has changed the way the Government pays for IT by creating a contract where we only pay for what we get from suppliers when it is fully delivered. The National Programme comprises a number of key elements that are already essential to the delivery of frontline services:

"Digital x-rays and scans which enable faster, safer care are in place in 100% of hospital trusts and can be viewed primary care
electronic prescriptions are now the norm in GP systems
Choose and Book, the electronic booking service providing choice and convenience for patients
GP2GP – electronic transfer of health records between GP practices, which in time will support the abolition of practice boundaries
Summary Care Record (SCR): Key information from the patient's GP record including current prescriptions and reactions to medicines
"Put simply, the programme is a key part of delivering modern, safe, joined-up healthcare. It is supporting the on-going reform of the NHS by giving choice and convenience to patients. The NHS could not function without it.

"However, in the current climate it is right to look again at efficiencies and Value For Money on all big projects and at the Chancellor's request that is what I and the Minister of State for Health have been doing across my Department.

"As part of this I have looked closely at options for savings on the NHS IT system and it is these savings that the Chancellor was referring to yesterday. The details of these discussions with the IT companies are commercially sensitive and ongoing, but I can give the House this update.

"My aim in conducting this exercise has been to ensure that those elements of the IT programme that can deliver most benefit to patients and frontline staff are taken forward, while cancelling certain additions to the system, where it makes sense to do so.

"So let me be absolutely clear Mr Speaker, we have no intention whatsoever of cancelling the Programme overall, not least because it is already making the NHS safer, more efficient and more convenient for patients.

"But we are discussing with our suppliers potential reductions to the scope of the systems and the cost savings that could be generated. In addition, we are look seriously at the internal savings that can be made from the costs of running the Programme.

"In the light of this work, I can confirm to the House Mr Speaker that we are working towards achieving a reduction of £600m in the lifetime cost of the programme.

"This means we will now pare back the programme to the core elements that have been identified as critical by clinicians. Our aim is to give trusts more flexibility and choice of IT systems, within a framework provided by the existing contracts, to keep the benefits of a national approach.

"Specifically Mr Speaker, this could include:

the IT systems that clinicians have told us are most important to them (such as electronic prescribing)
enabling local innovation by linking national systems with those provided by local service providers
allowing the NHS to design IT systems to fit their local needs
"Mr Speaker, the Programme has already provided benefits and in moving forward, we believe that this approach will accelerate the delivery of benefits to the frontline services of the NHS."