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| Darling may shelve NHS IT system | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A multi-billion pound NHS IT system may be cancelled in Wednesday's pre-Budget report, Alistair Darling has hinted. | |
| The chancellor said the "quite expensive" programme, which has been hit by problems and delays, could be axed to save cash. | The chancellor said the "quite expensive" programme, which has been hit by problems and delays, could be axed to save cash. |
| He told BBC One's Andrew Marr show it was "not essential to the frontline" and "something which I do not think we need to go ahead with just now". | He told BBC One's Andrew Marr show it was "not essential to the frontline" and "something which I do not think we need to go ahead with just now". |
| The Tories and Lib Dems have both been calling for the system to be axed. | The Tories and Lib Dems have both been calling for the system to be axed. |
| Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, for the Conservatives, said: "After seven years Labour have finally acknowledged what we've said for years, that the procurement for NHS IT was costing billions and not delivering. The opportunity cost to the NHS also measures billions of pounds. | |
| "This is another government IT procurement disaster, it just shows you can't trust Labour on spending efficiency." | |
| The electronic patient record system, which is thought to have cost about £12bn so far, was commissioned in 2002 by then prime minister Tony Blair, and was meant to be completed by 2010. | |
| It was meant to give doctors and other health professionals access to all patient records but it has been hit by cost overruns and delays. | |
| It comes as the Conservatives call for a moratorium on all government IT projects. |