NHS IT programme 'may produce camel not racehorse'

aviendaThis was the assessment given by a Fujitsu consultant at last week's eyeforhealthcare conference (Successful Implementation of NPfIT 2007) chaired by Avienda managing director, Ben Stanberry, and widely reported in yesterday's Computer Weekly magazine and the national press.

The warning from Andrew Rollerson, Fujitsu's healthcare consulting practice lead, came as a part of a presentation on the challenges involved in the NHS's ambitious £20 billion IT programme. Fujitsu is one of the main firms involved in the project after winning a £896 million contract to deliver systems in the South of England.

In his speech, Mr Rollerson voiced concern at the direction of the NHS programme and the lack of vision on how the health service can make best use of new technology. "What we are trying to do is run an enormous programme with the techniques that we are absolutely familiar with for running small projects. And it isn't working. And it isn't going to work," he told his audience. "Unless we do some serious thinking about that — about the challenges of scale and how you scale up to an appropriate size — then I think we're out on a limb."

Mr Rollerson added: "There is a belief that the national programme is somehow going to propel transformation in the NHS simply by delivering an IT system. Nothing could be further from the truth. A vacuum, a chasm, is opening up."

The Eyeforhealthcare conference at which Mr Rollerson was speaking was co-chaired by Ben Stanberry, managing director of Avienda - an e-health consulting firm - who like Fujitsu's Andrew Rollerson also delivered a presentation which was critical, in part, of the NHS IT programme and called for lessons to be learned from successful health IT programmes in Canada and Australia.

Speaking after the conference, Mr Stanberry said that Mr Rollerson had been "refreshingly honest and definitely speaking in the best interests of the programme."

"A good consultant is always honest with their client and that means they have to be neutral and objective about the challenges involved in achieving the changes the client wants." said Mr Stanberry. "Andrew Rollerson was very much reviewing the IT programme from the point of view of the massive organisational and cultural changes that still need to take place if the NHS is to realise all the benefits and opportunities that single, shared electronic records and booking systems will create. Everything that Andrew had to say was motivated by a deep commitment to the NHS and a genuine desire to see the IT programme deliver lasting improvements in patient care."

For further information, please visit:

Most Popular Now

Adults don't Trust Health Care to U…

A study finds that 65.8% of adults surveyed had low trust in their health care system to use artificial intelligence responsibly and 57.7% had low trust in their health care...

The 10 Year Health Plan: What do We Need…

Opinion Article by Piyush Mahapatra, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Chief Innovation Officer at Open Medical. There is a new ten-year plan for the NHS. It will "focus efforts on preventing, as...

People's Trust in AI Systems to Mak…

Psychologists warn that AI's perceived lack of human experience and genuine understanding may limit its acceptance to make higher-stakes moral decisions. Artificial moral advisors (AMAs) are systems based on artificial...

AI Model can Read ECGs to Identify Femal…

A new AI model can flag female patients who are at higher risk of heart disease based on an electrocardiogram (ECG). The researchers say the algorithm, designed specifically for female patients...

New AI Tool Mimics Radiologist Gaze to R…

Artificial intelligence (AI) can scan a chest X-ray and diagnose if an abnormality is fluid in the lungs, an enlarged heart or cancer. But being right is not enough, said...

Relationship Between Sleep and Nutrition…

Diet and sleep, which are essential for human survival, are interrelated. However, recently, various services and mobile applications have been introduced for the self-management of health, allowing users to record...

To be Happier, Take a Vacation... from Y…

Today, nearly every American - 91% - owns a cellphone that can access the internet, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2011, only about one-third did. Another study finds...

DMEA 2025 - Innovations, Insights and Ne…

8 - 10 April 2025, Berlin, Germany. Less than 50 days to go before DMEA 2025 opens its doors: Europe's leading event for digital health will once again bring together experts...

Researchers Find Telemedicine may Help R…

Low-value care - medical tests and procedures that provide little to no benefit to patients - contributes to excess medical spending and both direct and cascading harms to patients. A...

AI Revolutionizes Glaucoma Care

Imagine walking into a supermarket, train station, or shopping mall and having your eyes screened for glaucoma within seconds - no appointment needed. With the AI-based Glaucoma Screening (AI-GS) network...

North Cumbria Integrated Care Signs 10-Y…

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) has signed a long-term agreement for use of the Alcidion Miya Precision platform, to provide an electronic patient record (EPR) for the...

AI Accelerates Discovery of Neurodevelop…

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) approach that accelerates the identification of genes that contribute to neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy and developmental delay. This new...