The BBC reported last week that the decision to move forward in 2002 with the UK National Health Service's electronic health record's National Programme for IT (NPfIT) took place after a ten-minute presentation to then Prime Minister Tony Blair. The cost estimate for NPfIT - done basically on the back of an envelop - was for £2.4bn over three years, to which Blair basically said, "Go for it."
Surprise, surprise, NPfIT is currently projected to cost £12.4bn over ten years, and even that estimate is likely severely optimistic. Tony Collins over at ComputerWeekly who has been following the NPfIT situation for years has all the gory details. Collins has been trying to get the minutes of the meeting released, which the government refuses to do, despite being directed to do so by the Information Commissioner.
The NHS has recently stated that regardless of the many problems the NPfIT has faced, it is highly successful, and that it is "so well advanced that the health service 'could no longer function' without it."
This is kind of like Homer Simpson saying,“I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around.”
