Connecting for Health should be closed down, says MP Bacon

The body is more interested in the preservation of its own position than taxpayers, he adds

Health minister Simon Burns told the Commons that future decisions on the failed NHS IT programme run by Connecting for Health will depend on the outcome of the government's major projects review, which is expected within two to three weeks.

He confirmed his department has reached agreement with BT on necessary contract changes designed to reduce costs. However, he added that there is "still some way to go" before reaching an agreement with CSC, the only other remaining main supplier.

"We are pushing harder for faster results and have made it clear to suppliers that we will not tolerate further delays," insisted Burns.

"It is important to state that every single penny saved will be reinvested in improving patient care."

Burns was replying to a debate called by Tory MP Richard Bacon, a senior member of the Public Accounts Committee, who insisted that "the NHS IT programme has not worked and there is no evidence that it will".

Bacon also said: "Rather than squandering another £4bn to £5bn, which is still unspent, the NHS should recognise reality."

He went on to say that Connecting for Health has failed and should be closed down because it "is now more interested in the preservation of its own position than in protecting the interests of taxpayers".

He also urged: "NHS Trusts must be set free to choose the systems that meet the needs of patients and medical professionals. They should have the power to source products locally, subject only to common standards."

These demands followed his detailed and damning history of the project conceived under pressure from former Labour prime minister Tony Blair after discussions with Bill Gates in late 2001-02, Bacon claimed that the likely costs, risks and timescales were deliberately concealed from the start and he delivered a scathing assessment of director-general Richard Grainger.

He quoted a report run by Computing in 2005, following threats by Grainger against BT, on an interview in which Grainger said: "BT had better get me some substantial IBX functionality by the end of summer or some predictable events will occur."

Labour shadow health minister Liz Kendal pressed for publication of the government's IT strategy. She also pointed out the need for a transitional body to oversee a move towards hospitals and other NHS bodies taking responsibility for their own IT.

Burns warned there were "no easy choices" and pointed to some of the programme's successes, including the "spine" core service, N3, the secure network linking NHS organisations, an internal e-mail system, choose-and-book, an electronic prescription service, and the GP2GP system for transferring records. He also said hospitals were using systems based on Lorenzo and Millennium.

He claimed to have reduced the IT project's costs by £1.3bn, or 18 per cent. He said suppliers had reduced costs by £670m, local costs would reduce by £200m, and £400m would come off central costs.

He said the strategy had been delayed to take account of the "listening pause" in the government's NHS reform programme.

Other MPs denounced the "procurement and project management disaster" and criticised Lorenzo as "not working".

One asked: "Just how poorly does a contractor have to perform before a serious charge is made as to whether that contract should be maintained?"