Story: NHS IT: A critical case for treatment

Posted by: David Lewis (Tuesday 15 November 2005, 5:13 PM)

You have summarised the state of affairs accurately I think. It is not fair to blame the doctors on this sorry mess. General Practice in the UK has led the world in computerising the health record and implenting IT in the consultation. The government has run rough shod over the the GPs in tehis country and contracted the work with new players to the GP arena. Accenture is one of the lucky companies. However, this company was once Arthur Andersen Consulting who were invlved with Enron in the USA. It does not suprise me that large sums of public money seem to be wasted on the NPfIT programme while hospital beds close and patients clamour for expensive drugs that the government says it cannot afford. IT does not affect patient care; health professionals do.

I would rather see the UK move more slowly to an integrated electonic health record while spending more on direct patient care. Not sexy, but the voters (patients) would be better off.