The House of Commons Health Committee is to hold an inquiry into the electronic patient records system at the heart of the £6bn National Programme for NHS IT (NPfIT).

According to terms of reference published last week, MPs will focus on patient data issues such as where information will be held, who will have access to it and how confidentiality can be protected.

The committee will also consider implementation issues affecting the programme, which is about two years behind schedule.

The inquiry is one of a series of reviews of the programme in the past 12 months. In June, public spending watchdog the National Audit Office published a report on the progress, and since the appointment of NHS chief executive David Nicholson in July there have been at least two further internal reviews, according to health service insiders.

At a conference this month, Nicholson reiterated his support for NPfIT and, while acknowledging the need for more engagement with NHS users, he rebutted calls for an independent review.

Progress on the National Programme is patchy. The N3 broadband network is now fully rolled out more than two months ahead of schedule, and implementation of electronic X-ray systems is considered broadly successful. But installation of complex hospital administration software has all but ground to a halt, and NHS staff buy-in issues are still not resolved.

One result of Nicholson’s reviews is December’s creation of the NPfIT Local Ownership Programme (Nlop), which aims to give local health communities a greater role in the technology programme.

But NHS IT staff are not convinced the plan will go far enough.

‘If it actually happened, Nlop would be helpful, but it seems there is not going to be any money or contract management – and supplier discussions are to remain central – so it just looks like responsibility without authority,’ said a senior source.

The deadline for submissions to the health committee inquiry is 16 March.

What do you think? Email us at: feedback@computing.co.uk

Related stories

BT switch to Cerner completed

NHS IT must recover from supplier ills

Accenture steps down from health deals

NHS IT programme is a question of faith

Toughest tests still lie ahead for NHS IT

NHS IT faces fresh scrutiny