You are in:
- Archives » 2006 » August 2006
Does Not Compute
More trouble for the government: The company at the heart of the computing reform of Britain's National Health Service faces uncomfortable revelations of its financial performance later this week.
The computing company iSoft has been charged by the government to upgrade the NHS's computer programme: A £6.2 billion dollar project, making the National Programme For IT (NPfIT) the world's biggest IT project. The upgrade, which aims to link 50 million patients via 30,00 GPs, 270 hospitals and NHS trusts, is already two years behind schedule. Now, it seems, the company faces a press grilling over its finances.
Two years ago, iSoft was valued at £1 billion. This year, however, its value has crashed by 90 percent. The Guardian, which is leading the media enquiry, claims it is now valued at £101 million.
Huge swings in value are regular for IT nothing extraordinary for IT companies - but in the midst of the world's biggest ever civil engineering IT contract? Earlier this year, US consulting firm Accenture blamed iSoft for some of the delays, causing shares to slump further.
Two years ago, the Guardian claims it saw documents which raised what it describes as "serious issues about iSoft's accounts." The company secured a gagging order prohibiting publication of its investigations. This week, however, the paper warned iSoft that it was returning to the High Court to argue that the gagging order be lifted.
The Guardian adds that if iSoft collapses, the NHS upgrade could be stalled indefinitely.
In 2004, government officials admitted that the upgrade would likely cost 20-30 billion - a huge increase on the original budget of £6.2 billion. A spokesman for the project argued "The savings and other benefits of the NPfIT will outweigh its costs, not just in terms of finances. It's also about patient safety and improvements to patient care."
