This riles me every time I hear about it. I remember just watching one of the parliamentary committees on BBC Parliament and thinking why the hell are these people in charge of the biggest IT project in Britain.
I often wonder why open-source can't provide a good and cheap solution to this NHS IT problem. I know I'd happily work on something that will benefit the health of the entire population. I don't find it too hard to imagine that there are lots of other developers out there who feel the same way I do.
The ministry of defence stock control project is similarly behind schedule and overbudget - and last time they tested it they had 8Bn worth of kit the army couldn't find.
I mean how difficult is it to make a stock control system ??
IMO, the solution to most of these problems is not to make some wacky IT solution that copy's the way some huge dysfunctional organization does things, but to fix the internal problems with the organization. Unfortunately, that's just as complex as creating a useful system and takes a lot more effort from those in charge, but it's far less sexy.
EX: If your accounting software is more complex than quick books your probably doing it wrong.
I often wonder why open-source can't provide a good and cheap solution to this NHS IT problem. I know I'd happily work on something that will benefit the health of the entire population. I don't find it too hard to imagine that there are lots of other developers out there who feel the same way I do.