When are they all going to learn that these ultra-large IT projects never work ! Always over budget and completely mis-managed !

^ the question is why do they not work. Surely they should be able to work.

Very true. Maybe the scope of the project isn't being defined properly of the people involved don't have the necessary skills.

There's also a bit from the BCS about the NHS thing here as apparently they were mis-quoted

"patients having online access to their medical records."

with our governments well documented habit of losing important details how long does everyone give it before peoples patient records are accidentally published where everyone can see them?

Having previously worked for the NHS and knowing the bidding that took part for the contracts initially I would blame the projects failure on trying to save money at the start.

A number of leading companies were in for the bid and most had a great reputation however the contracts were passed to companies with a proven history of mismanagement and failed projects just to save costs.

That is why they are still paying for it now and i have no doubt it would have been cheaper to employ the proven companies to run the projects.

(Novice question time)

Why is this such a problem

Most development companies would jump at the chance to develop a system worth billions and probably quote a price up front

I'm sure there are companies with proven track records up to the job too

Having worked on one of the Local Service Provider desks for the NHS, and also having worked on the the National Service Desk for the NHS. Id like to say its a little unfair to focus the blame just on the mismangement of the companies, as the blame lies on all sides. Whilst I agree there are issues of mismangement, the company i worked for seemingly broke arms and legs to accomodate, the requirements of the NHS trusts, in my opinion...............until the contract ended.


I still think the idea of a standardized system across the NHS is a great idea on paper and makes sense, but obivously the failings will always overshadow any positives and any potential postives to come out of the plans........

Any company with a proven track record is generally capable at what they do because they employ good people who know what they are doing. Those people cost more then the average joe, and so the "proven" companies submit estimates/quotes that are higher than the cowboy companies.

Places like the government/NHS, etc. Have a tendency to go for the lowest bidder in all scenarios, so the capable companies arent used in favour of the cowboys.

Ask a stupid question

Local Authorities, NHS etc are *meant to use a tendering process. Where you bid on the proposed project.

Each part of the project will have weighting e.g. cost, service delivery, software functionality etc.

A Procurement Officer is the person who decides who is the best candidate based around the weighting of each part. This person is not allowed to be contacted and should not talk to any interested party.

*But in saying that a nice dinner and a friendly whose your daddy hand shake commonly ends up winning the day.

I personally think that a centralised database, if done correctly, would be a far better idea. I know it's against the conservative idea of a less central government, but then again, the NHS goes against the core ideas of conservatism anyway

A centralised database, in a centralised location with high security (the armed forces guarding it?), a team of ex-hackers protecting it around the clock from attack, access to the information allowed by biometric authentication only, access to information about patients that are not within their usual area to be flagged and checked immediately, etc etc.

Yes, the initial costs would be large, but an efficient IT system would dramatically reduce costs across the board. In my local NHS Trust, there are almost as many administrators as there are medical staff. Not only that, there are at least two paper copies of my medical records, an electronic copy at my GPs, and a partial copy stored electronically in the hospital (that can be accessed by the GP remotely).

Also, the Welsh and English NHS IT systems are totally separate... why? It's the same NHS, isn't it?

Yeah, that would come under 'etc'

I bought some cheap bin bags the other day...never again! (see, i learnt by it, how long will it take them?)


Dave