It’s all too easy, at times, to join in with the many and vocal critics of the National Programme for IT, to complain of the delays, the overspend, the perceived lack of progress.  In our enthusiasm, it’s all too easy to overlook the scale of the project, and the significant progress made to date.

The Guardian published a timely reminder of what has actually been achieved, stripping away the much reported delays, contractor disputes and spending rows.

In what is the largest civilian IT project in the world, across 330 NHS trusts and hundreds of geographically diverse hospitals and clinics, four of the five key systems are already in place, progressing well, and completed ahead of time.  Choose and Book, the electronic transfer of prescriptions, broadband networking and x-ray archiving are already delivering benefits to patients and staff.

The electronic patient record (EPR) system is admittedly behind schedule, but similar projects have caused headaches the world over.  President Obama has recently committed $19.2bn for EPR systems in the US – proof if needed that the aims of NPfIT are worth striving for.

No other country has managed to connect up its healthcare systems.  Perhaps England, as she has done so many times in her history, can be a world leader in this field.