Computer fiasco costs hospital £10m

The boss of an NHS hospital has condemned the Government’s computerised medical records ­database, saying it has led to fewer patients being seen and cost his trust £10million.

The Royal Free in London where 40 extra staff had to be taken on The Royal Free in London where 40 extra staff had to be taken on

Andrew Way, chief executive of the Royal Free Hospital, in north-west London, said staff were “incredibly disappointed”.

It is the latest row to hit the £20billion IT system which is intended to store the private health records of 50 million ­patients on a single computer.

Civil liberty campaigners have branded it “data rape” because sensitive information ­– details of mental illness, abortions, pregnancy, HIV status, drug-taking and alcoholism – will be stored on the care records system.

They say it is open to abuse because the police and other ­Government agencies will be able to access the records, claiming it is in the “public interest”.

Will Labour ever sort out the mess they have created with the NHS super-computer and the billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money they are pouring into it?

Shadow Health Minister Stephen O’Brien

Yesterday it emerged that pharmacists will be able to read the records, too.

Mr Way, whose hospital began a trial of the system last summer, said the introduction had caused “heartache and hard work” for staff. He said: “I have personally apologised for the decision to implement the system before we were really clear about what we were going to receive. I had been led to ­believe it would all work.”

He said £4million extra had to be spent to improve the system, with the hiring of 40 extra staff.

And £6million was lost ­because fewer patients were treated, meaning the Royal Free could not bill other parts of the NHS for work done.

Last night the Shadow Health Minister Stephen O’Brien said: “Will Labour ever sort out the mess they have created with the NHS super-computer and the billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money they are pouring into it?”

The controversy comes after the Commons Public Accounts Committee warned last month of delays to the scheme.

A Department of Health spokesman said lessons had been learnt from the trial at the Royal Free that would help 
“improve future deployments”.

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