Management Toolkit

Doctors call for independent NPfIT review

Tags:
NHS,
NPfIT

Kable

Published: 07 Jul 2009 08:49 BST

Doctors have voted in favour of an independent review of the NHS National Programme for IT.

Members of the British Medical Association supported a motion at its annual representative meeting in Liverpool, calling for a review of the entire programme led by Connecting for Health.

The motion, proposed by Dr Gordon Mathews, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Buckinghamshire Hosptials NHS Trust, condemned the "continuing waste of money" on the national programme, saying that most of its applications are not working successfully and are delayed. It also called for CfH to concentrate on developing speciality solutions that are "fit for purpose to support professional clinical quality metrics, audit, research, revalidation, patient care and outcomes".

Doctors also supported a motion that GPs should retain their role as holders of patient medical records, as it is fundamental to maintaining confidentiality, and that the opt-in approach to the Care Record Service will help patients to understand the implications of any transfer of their data.

A spokesperson for the BMA told GC News that, following the vote, it will be pressing the government for a review of NPfIT and campaigning for local IT solutions for the NHS.

Victor Almeida, senior analyst at Kable, said: "The BMA are not the first to criticise the national programme for lacking a coherent clinical approach and robust patient confidentiality standards. It will not be the last either."

A motion from the BMA's Buckinghamshire Division, congratulating the BMA on its successful campaign to remove the government's proposal to share identifiable patient medical records with other government departments from the Coroners and Justice Bill, was also carried.