Darling to shelve NHS IT system

[stek]

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

NHS has it's own network, N3;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N3_(NHS)

[AtW]

NHS has it's own network, N3;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N3_(NHS)

And why does it need to have it's own network? PKI is in active use for a very long time now, if they insist in having their own network then I say cut salaries of all those who say so to pay for this luxury.

[Mr.Whippy]

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

Yes, it's called N3.

One word - PKI

That's either three words, or one acronym.

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.

They may well be large enough, but their core business is healthcare...not implementing large scale IT programmes.

Besides, they did buy "standard" software such as Cerner's Millenium and then tried customising it to fit their own needs. Millenium works for a single hospital in the US but they've had to adapt it to fit in with the structure of the NHS. This is where much of the delays and some of the additional costs would've come from.

[AtW]

Would you be prepared to sign a contract to that effect?

Yes, I'll sign a contract to create a single central database that will hold medical data on all UK patients whilst allowing remote secure access to it by authorised personnel.

[AtW]

They may well be large enough, but their core business is healthcare...not implementing large scale IT programmes.

If it costs so much then it should be their core competency. Anything of such scale should be taken in house - they should not be building processors (Intel does it), or databases (Oracle, Microsoft), or networks (O2, Telewest): they should have knowledge of their own business (health care) and hire right people to implement it.

Besides, they did buy "standard" software such as Cerner's Millenium and then tried customising it to fit their own needs. Millenium works for a single hospital in the US but they've had to adapt it to fit in with the structure of the NHS. This is where much of the delays and some of the additional costs would've come from.

£12 bln contract is big enough to justify internal team that will answer with their jobs should they fail to do what's required.

This is a criminal waste of taxpayer money - anyone who wants to argue about it please declare if you have conflict of interest (taking or having taken part in this tax payer robbery gravy train).

[Mr.Whippy]

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

if "managed by people who know what they are doing"...
This is where my worry is when you start introducing a public network with such data and entrust that to the likes of some of these large IT service companies.

[oracleslave]

Yes, I'll sign a contract to create a single central database that will hold medical data on all UK patients whilst allowing remote secure access to it by authorised personnel.

I think you'd lose money.

[AtW]

This is where my worry is when you start introducing a public network with such data and entrust that to the likes of some of these large IT service companies.

You use encryptions - there are well established techniques that mathematically guarantee security of this data, the main holes are on ends where data is sent/received.

How much money is now spent on ecommerce based on public networks with SSL being used? How often did you hear of credit cards data stolen whilst being in transit? Only theoretically - real CC breaches were on database end, and this is only because CC data has got value for hackers.

[AtW]

I think you'd lose money.

I'd certainly not make billions out of it, but I'd say £10 mln is enough to implement it (pay people who do it) and buy hardware necessary to host it.

[Mr.Whippy]

£12 bln contract is big enough to justify internal team that will answer with their jobs should they fail to do what's required.

"£12 bln contract"... more ignorance.. it's not a single contract. there are multiple providers each with multiple contracts to provide multiple things.... it's a massive, complex programme...... not a "single database" on a "super-computer" that costs £12bn...

They have an "internal team", it's called CfH (Connecting for Health) and they are responsible for NPfIT.