Local NHS costs still unclear, says BCS

The full cost of the National Programme for NHS IT is yet to be established and clinical engagement is still lacking, says the British Computer Society (BCS) health think tank.

The Radical Steps forum includes members from academia, suppliers and operational NHS staff and meets twice yearly to consider issues facing health service IT implementation.

Its latest report, published this week, says the total cost of local ownership of new operational systems has yet to be worked out, including areas such as management of change, capacity increases and capability enhancements.

'The eventual level appears to those in the field to be escalating rapidly over and above previous perceptions,' it says.

The report emphasises four key areas of concern: partnership between the National Programme and local NHS staff, use and usability of solutions, coping strategies for organisational change, and flexibility and innovation.

'Detailed understanding of what contractually is available nationally and what is required locally is still confused.'

Lack of clinical involvement and consultation on the programme is still a cause for concern, says the group.

It points to 'superficial operational clinical involvement to date' and 'little formal engagement of health records staff'.

Enthusiasm for the success of the programme does exist with NHS staff on the ground, but it will not be sustained without investment, the report concludes.

A National Programme spokesman said: 'New operational solutions will be integrated and should therefore have lower total cost of ownership than the current fragmented approach. There is no evidence that "local cost of ownership" is escalating rapidly.'

Joint director general of NHS IT Professor Aidan Halligan is aware of the need to engage effectively with staff at all levels, he said.