NHS IT will not be scrapped completely, says Burnham

Local NHS trusts to decide how to be a part of a national record system

The National Programme for IT is not to be cancelled completely, Andy Burnham told MPs in the commons today.

Speaking ahead of his pre-budget proposals to be released on Wednesday, chancellor Alistair Darling had indicated the programme would be scrapped saying: "[it is] something we do not need to go ahead with just now."

But Burnham told MPs today that although the programme was under review, it would not be cancelled completely.

"We have no intention whatsoever of cancelling the programme overall, not least because it is already making the NHS safer, more efficient and more convenient for patients," he said.

"But we are discussing potential reductions with our suppliers regarding the scope of the systems and the cost savings that could be generated."

He said £600m would be cut from the “life-time costs” of the programme with the government cancelling additional elements of the system as and when it made sense.

This would see the system “pared back to its core elements”.

Asked whether the electronic patient records - the most delayed part of the scheme - would go ahead, Burnham said it would now be up to local NHS trusts to decide how to integrate with a national system.

Although the scheme is forecast to cost £12.7bn when finished, well over half of this money remains unspent.

More details will be provided in the pre-budget report on Wednesday.