NHS IT - what can I say? Well in the light of today's Times headlines "Google or Microsoft could hold NHS patient records say Tories" quite a lot. The Times totally conflate minor and major objectives and call the entire NHS IT 'Connecting for Health' programme 'the electronic patients records programme' and imply the latter will cost £12.4Bn.
The reality is that the use of Microsoft, Google or any other electronic record system would only apply to the summary care record of the 'NHS spine' which has a contract value of £600m. The NHS spine has many other elements which are valuable and would need retaining under any model. For instance the personal demographics service, all the national security and confidentiality provisions as well as the means to support valuable national applications such as 'Choose and Book' and Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions. Both the latter are up and running but need developing further - the former particularly with respect to long term conditions.
Granted there were two major problems with this project right from the start. Firstly the Government took a command and control approach that prevented hospitals finding their own providers and IT solutions. Result - chaos and wasted millions. Secondly calling the whole project an 'IT' programme. Not only was the name the kiss of death but the goal wasn't 'IT' in itself, and the approach alienated clinicians right from the start instead of involving them. The project is about (amazingly) improving patient care [remember that?] through enabling technology. The 2020health-EDS/Hewlett Packard conference on Improving patient outcomes with IT in May (written up here in e-health insider) had superb examples of how technology has transformed patient care in the USA, Spain and Norway (publication to follow).
The major challenge for the Conservatives is how they will support the complex major areas of the project - the local Care Records Service which are the new hospital systems to support clinical functionality needed within hospitals for patient care. Google and Microsoft have no relevance here.
