Darling to shelve NHS IT system

[stek]

Soviet Army is no more!

I worked on NHS spine quite enjoyed it actually. Some stonking boxes to play with and an directory with 2 million objects in it.

They fed us well, we managed to spend £892 at the local Thai takeway one night on an all-weekend transition, three people ordered lobster. Three people left lobster too....

At the other end of the scale the next morning the relief transition manager ordered 10 pizzas for 75 people, there was a near riot - not even a slice each...

Nice to know the tax payers money is not going to waste....

[AtW]

Again, why is this a good idea?

Because it will save £11.99 bln that's why!

This amount of money is enough to buy 30-40 data centers around the world, FFS - why on earth it costs so much?

[HairyArsedBloke]

That's my 2 point plan to finish with ze spekulants.

And all commerce as prices become more volatile as buyers / sellers cannot match their supply / demand profiles.

[AtW]

They don't have a National Health Service.

"France, like other countries in Europe, has a system of universal health care largely financed by government through a system of national health insurance. In its 2000 assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France provided the "best overall health care" in the world.[1] "

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_France

HTH

[AtW]

And all commerce as prices become more volatile as buyers / sellers cannot match their supply / demand profiles.

Based on what volatility speculators caused to commodities in the last few years I'd take the risk of them being removed completely out of the picture.

Would have price of oil go up 10 times with demand only edging up some 20%? I doubt it - it should not be possible to invest in buying oil, only if you are actually investing into oil exploration and drilling. This would actually make shares of those companies more attractive - ability to bypass these real life businesses and buy paper oil futures is having serious negative effect on those companies in the first place.

[pzz76077]

They don't have a National Health Service.

I think they do, agreed, many are decentralized and part private (eg Germany), but national none the less.
As regards the cost of health care to the individual citizen, £170Bn would have bought a lot of health care policies for a lot of people.
Nothing like a free market to shake up an out of control Quango!

PZZ

[Mr.Whippy]

Because it will save £11.99 bln that's why!

Oh thats OK then..... I'd much rather they saved some money and sent my personal, confidential data across a public network

[AtW]

Oh thats OK then..... I'd much rather they saved some money and sent my personal, confidential data across a public network

Are you suggesting creating physically new network just for NHS data to be sent across?

One word - PKI.

This problem was solved long time ago - these days processors are so fast that it is criminal to charge so much for just building one large database.

Frankly, NHS is large enough to hire its own in house team who'd design software for their own needs by customising standard components bought off different vendors.

[pzz76077]

Oh thats OK then..... I'd much rather they saved some money and sent my personal, confidential data across a public network

The internet can be as secure as any other network, managed by people who know what they are doing.

Companies such as http://www.bemac.com/ have been doing it for a couple of decades.


Not used internet banking?? Far more critical data here than anything my GP would ever have on me!

PZZ

[oracleslave]

Because it will save £11.99 bln that's why!

So without knowing the requirements of what needs to be delivered, are you saying your company can deliver for a fixed price what the NHS are currently spending 12 billion on for 10 million pounds? Would you be prepared to sign a contract to that effect?