Poor evaluation of the IT services and infrastructure being rolled out across the NHS risks undermining support for Whitehall's unprecedented levels of spending on the programme, according to research published on Tuesday.
In its latest report, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says it is "impossible to tell" whether the £6bn NHS IT programme will deliver its widely promised benefits due to inadequate planning and testing.
Trials of electronic patient records have "failed to demonstrate" that they would lead to more flexible services, cost savings or improvements in health care, says the report. Also, pilots of electronic appointment booking systems have "not clearly shown" that they would help offer greater choice for patients over when, where and by whom, they are treated.
The IPPR recommends that:
- evaluations of IT projects in health should always be linked clearly to the stated aims of the projects;
- adequate time and resources should be allocated to evaluation;
- appropriate data should be collected to examine the effectiveness of projects.
"The potential benefits of ICT use in the health service could be huge and make a real impact on the direct experience of patients and health professionals. This potential needs to be demonstrated in practice," said Jamie Bend, IPPR research fellow and author of the report.
"Unless it's proven that things like electronic health records work, it will remain difficult to justify to doctors, nurses and patients existing and additional spending on ICT. Few of the problems with evaluation are new, yet they continue to occur and there is a perception that ICT projects have failed. This is not a reason to reject the use of ICT but to redouble efforts to use it effectively."
Responding to the report, the National Programme for IT in the NHS said in a statement:
"The National Programme for IT welcomes the interest the IPPR has shown through its study of the benefits of IT systems and services in a number of pilots. The National Programme has itself taken the lessons learnt from around the NHS including electronic patient record and electronic booking pilots to inform its work to ensure that the systems and services it is developing and implementing will bring benefits for clinicians and patients alike.
"Benefits realisation is a core part of the work of the National Programme. The business cases for the National Programme, approved by the Treasury in authorising the contracts, contained a number of benefits. These related to improved standards of treatment and diagnosis, improved accuracy in prescribing, and improved patient choice, apart from financial benefits that flow from cheaper contracts delivering greater value for money and savings from reduced paper, storage, etc."
"The benefits realisation framework being developed by Aidan Halligan will enable individual trusts to assess, monitor and track benefits realisation throughout implementation."
