NHS IT spending tops £1.6bn

The NHS has overspent by millions on its IT projects

NHS ICT spending topped £1.6bn in 2008-9, according to new figures.

Health minister Simon Burns disclosed the information in response to a written parliamentary question from fellow Tory and MP for Hove, Mike Weatherly.

Of the £1.62bn spent on ICT projects in the NHS, £27m went on strategic health trusts, £682m on primary care trusts and £915m on NHS trusts. In total, capital expenditure amounted to £261m while revenue expenditure accounted for £1.36bn.

Spending on the much-criticised National Programme for IT amounted to £1.06bn.

Of those companies with headquarters outside the UK, CSC, Fujitsu and Atos appear to have been the biggest beneficiaries of NHS IT spending, with the former raking in a whopping £232m for its work during the period.

The figures are likely to add weight to the calls for spending on government IT projects to be slashed, something actively being considered by the coalition as it continues to look for ways to save money.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has already called on the government to introduce a central system to mandate spending on large-scale projects, including ICT programmes, to provide assurances that projects will be delivered on time and to budget.