The company charged with rescuing the NHS's troubled IT system has consistently failed to meet its deadlines for introducing the project across the health service, The Observer can reveal.
Last week Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was awarded a £2bn contract to take on a bigger role in overseeing the implementation of the Connecting for Health system, the biggest civilian computer project in history which is supposed to electronically link all doctors' surgeries and hospitals. But government hopes that CSC will prove the £12.4bn project's salvation have been hit by news that the company has itself experienced huge problems in implementing even the most basic parts of the project.
The revelation will raise fears that the project will not come in on time and, as a result, will go further over budget. Critics suggest the eventual cost to the taxpayer of fixing the system's myriad problems will push the total bill for Connecting for Health to in excess of £15 bn. Some have suggested it will rise to as much as £20bn - enough to fund 40,000 nurses for the 10-year lifetime of the contract.
Full article in today's Observer
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