First NHS IT system due next month

The first major component of the £2.3bn National Programme for NHS IT will start to go live next month.

The Choose & Book online booking service for hospital outpatient appointments is currently being tested at a small number of GP surgeries and will go live at the first four ?early adopter? sites towards the end of September.

The service will be rolled out nationally by the end of 2005.

The development of Choose & Book runs in parallel with the NHS ?data spine? being put together by BT.

BT was fined earlier this summer for falling behind on one of its other NHS deals - the broadband N3 network - and at the time there were also delays in the spine project, though the company was not penalised (Computing, 9 June).

The bookings-related functions are now up and running to facilitate the trials. Other elements of the spine?s functionality, such as the clinical information required for the National Programme?s electronic patient records system, will go live in phases over the coming years.

?Ebooking is an excellent example of how technology will transform the experience of patients,? said Health secretary John Reid.

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