Crisis-hit NHS computer contract an 'exemplar of good practice'

A computer project for the NHS 24 telephone helpline which is currently running £41m over budget was praised in a Scottish government report.

The system for handling patient calls has been beset with problems and last month it was temporarily withdrawn.

But a 2013 internal review described it as a "particularly strong exemplar of good practice".

The Scottish government said the review was held before a significant testing phase of the project had taken place.

The project is more than two years behind schedule.

It is also currently running 55% over budget with an estimated cost of £117.4m, £41.6m higher than planned.

NHS 24 has already borrowed £20m from the Scottish government in order to cover the escalating costs.

Human error

Since the August 2013 Programme and Project Management Centre of Expertise review it has emerged that nobody read through the contract before it was put out to tender.

This meant that vital performance measures were left out.

On 2 December, MSPs on the Scottish Parliament's Public Audit Committee gasped as they were told that "human error" was to blame for a poorly worded contract.

Key parts were not copied over to the final version, which meant that contractors were not obliged to meet important performance measures.

Committee members described the mistakes as "incredible".

The following week the Scottish government's most senior policy advisor, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, told the Public Audit Committee: "I would expect team in charge to be clear about what they were signing up to and that the document was fit for purpose."

Committee convener Paul Martin MSP put it to Mrs Evans that he had signed loan agreements for much less than £75m and they always contained the phrase "please read carefully".

Mrs Evans said: "Common sense, apart from anything else, would emphasise the importance of reading the document that one signs."

It has now emerged that the project was recommended in an internal report as something which could be "transferable to other programmes".

Technical difficulties

A Scottish government spokesman said: "This is a dated review, carried out at a specific point in the project on behalf of NHS 24.

"It was held before a significant testing phase of the project had taken place.

"Since that point, in February 2014, the Scottish government and NHS 24 jointly commissioned Ernst & Young to undertake a review and report of the situation with the Future Programme."

In October, call-handlers had to resort to pen and paper when the new computer system, designed by BT and CapGemini, ran into "technical difficulties".

NHS 24 is using its old system until the problems have been resolved.

The new IT system is not expected to be ready for use until next summer.

Every month the new system is not in place, NHS 24 incurs additional costs of £450,000.

In a statement NHS 24 said: "This was a complex contract process, which took several years to develop and resulted in very substantial 600-page documents.

"The board had a range of governance measures in place, but this was not sufficient and the risk to the organisation was underestimated at the time.

"While the ultimate responsibility for spending public money lies with the accountable officer, the contractual flaws were part of a systemic failing involving a variety of people."

It added: "Once the new system is re-launched in 2016, it will bring significant benefits to the way we can serve the needs of patients for many years to come."

CapGemini and BT declined to comment.