The government needs to provide greater leadership on developing NHS IT systems, a major systems supplier has said.
 
Upgrades to the health service's infrastructure - such as smart cards and central NHS IT system the spine - were "a nightmare", Rx Systems managing director Ian Taylor told the Numark conference in Buenos Aires last week (March 10).
 
Asked by C+D how this could be resolved, he said: "There needs to be a strict and formal agreement with all stakeholders in the delivery of systems... [so] everyone knows what their roles and responsibilities are."
 
He cited August's "challenging" spine upgrade - which threw the electronic prescription system into chaos -  as an example of "the need to formalise the process and who is responsible". "Fundamentally, patients were not able to receive their medicines," Mr Taylor said.

Mr Taylor believed the need for better leadership was already recognised by the Department of Health and the Health and Social Care Information Centre. "This is about patients getting the care they need. The IT systems must... support the patient," he stressed.
 
Mr Taylor added that more information was needed before suppliers could develop systems for barcode scanning at the point of dispensing, as required by EU legislation due to come into effect in 2017. 
 
"I don't want to develop anything until I have absolute clarity on what it is I'm supposed to be developing," he said in response to a question from a Numark delegate.
 
"I know it's coming, I know there's a scanning requirement, but there are still lots of questions."

What else could the government do to support your IT system? 

 

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