NHSE bites back at Hiss criticisms

The NHS Executive finally delivered its response to a Public Accounts Committee's (PAC) findings on its Hospital Information Support System (Hiss) initiative last week.

The Executive's response comes four months later than promised, and weeks after it released its own friendly assessment of the initiative, in which it defended the series of expensive, integrated computer systems.

But it admitted that, along with hospitals and suppliers, it had been surprised by the complexities of implementing the Hiss initiative.

It also reiterated claims made during the PAC debate that it has learned some lessons. It blamed the hospitals for some delays and said that since the National Audit Office released its damning report last spring, proposals for subsequent projects had become more realistic.

The Executive conceded that the first six Hiss projects had not met the expected savings target of #41m from the #88m cost. But it said that some benefits in better services for patients could not be quantified in cash terms.

The report noted the PAC's astonishment that the Executive went ahead with the #30m project at Nottingham City hospital. The high risk nature of the project prompted two of the three bidders to pull out of the tender.

The system developed by Oracle, the lone bidder, had failed to meet expectations, but the Executive claimed that it was working well in its 'limited form'.