Minister denies computer claims

Ministers hit back angrily today at claims that the cost of a new NHS computer system was spiralling out of control.

Health Minister John Hutton rejected suggestions the project cost would hit ?30 billion and said the Government had budgeted for a total bill of about ?10 billion.

Mr Hutton was speaking after hospital managers warned that patient care could suffer if the national IT project failed to deliver predicted savings in the short term. "There is no evidence that this will be the cost for IT," he said.

The ambitious project will computerise all records to allow GPs, doctors and paramedics to issue prescriptions at the touch of a button and allow patients to book hospital appointments.

There were claims the price tag could rise to ?30 billion after Computer Weekly magazine suggested the overall costs were much bigger than the ?6.2 billion procurement cost stated .

But Mr Hutton said the Government had budgeted for ?1 billion a year costs for the 10-year programme. The implementation bills would take the total price to ?10 billion.

The minister stressed that it would be unreasonable to impose extra new costs on NHS trusts.

But the NHS Confederation, which represents trusts, that finance chiefs feared efficiency savings would not materialise. "As people do the sums, they are only now getting to grips with the enormity of the programme," it added.