Leaked emails reveal chaos at heart of NPfIT
GPs are still unable to book appointments for their patients at any of 32 foundation trust hospitals on the Choose and Book service because they are not on the system's choice menu, emails leaked to the Sunday Times show.
Richard Granger, the civil servant responsible for the government's key £6.2 billion project, discloses that the project is in severe jeopardy while berating a senior Department of Health official.
In a reply to her September 9 email, Granger blames Margaret Edwards, the department's director for access and patient choice, for ignoring his advice and for her constant alterations to the system.
“Choose and Book’s £20m IT build contract is now in grave danger of derailing (not just destabilising) a £6.2 billion programme,” he writes.
“Unfortunately, your consistently late requests will not enable us to rescue the missed opportunities and targets.”
The system, which is meant to allow GPs to make 9.5m annual first visit appointments with hospital consultants, has so far made only 20,000. The original plan was for 250,000 to have been made by December 2004.
According to Edwards' email, GPs will not be able to book appointments at treatment centres and foundation trusts until next summer.
