UK hospitals get £20m IT boost

Frontline health services in the UK have been given a £20m bonus to spend on technology.

Health minister John Denham says primary care services, such as hospitals and GPs, will be given £20,000 each to spend on IT.

Speaking at the Health Services Management Conference in Harrogate, he said the money will be used to fund development of NHSNet and buy a range of equipment for tracking healthcare costs. He added the money will also enable GPs to keep track of patients' records at the touch of a button.

Every UK authority is to be given £20,000 and the remaining money will be directed to previously under-funded areas.

But Dr Neil Bacon, medical director at online health service doctors.net.uk, claimed the money could be better spent. "It's a good idea to try and harness the power of modern technology but I share the concern with many of my colleagues that NHS Net is not the way to do it," he said.

Bacon claimed NHS Net - an intranet for medical data - is expensive, clumsy and "doesn't offer any interesting information".

He added: "All the doctors can get better information on the Internet for free. There is no clinical focus in the information to help patients or doctors. Throwing money at NHS Net does not make it better as there are few clinicians at the top level of the NHS who understand how doctors use IT in day-to-day life."