NPfIT shakeup to highlight NHS trusts' software failings

Trusts urged to audit their code before switching service suppliers

NHS IT systems likely to harbour bad code

Last week’s announcement that the NPfIT is to be decentralised means that an increasing number of local NHS trusts will be forced to procure their own services, and that many of them will look to switch suppliers.

However, the transfer of a system from one supplier to another can be made very difficult when the legacy IT systems contain badly written code, according to Colin Privett, UK managing director of software analysis and measurement company Cast.

He argued that to avoid problems when switching suppliers, IT managers should audit and benchmark their code before switching, thereby providing new suppliers with a complete overview of the IT infrastructure they will be dealing with.

Privett also argued that badly written but bespoke and very complex code is particularly common in the public sector.

“The problem has traditionally been that these IT systems haven’t been measured or managed thoroughly. The public sector as a whole has tended to adopt huge elephantine projects and not oversee them properly," he said.

"On the other hand, the private sector has been procuring out-of-the-box packages wherever possible for some time now, and these systems make switching supplier much easier,” Privett added.

"I spoke to an IT manager within the NHS a few years ago and asked him, ‘How do you ensure your code is high quality, high performance, stable and not going to increase risk of system failure further down the line?’.

"He responded, ‘There are SLAs in place, if there is a problem, we don’t pay’. This didn’t seem like the best way of avoiding nasty surprises to me.

"New suppliers will need to make sure they know what they’re getting into. But it’s equally important that IT managers have a clear understanding of what’s being delivered,” he added.