V

Viscount Hanworth (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 16 March 2026

Debate

NHS: In-house Software Capabilities

Contribution

I thank the Minister for that reassuring Answer. The NHS has had a disastrous history of outsourcing its IT technology, which has wasted millions of pounds. A requirement of outsourcing is that there must be sufficient in-house expertise to properly assess the need for outside assistance and the quality of whatever assistance is on offer. In the absence of such expertise, outsourcing can be perilous. Moreover, given the requisite in-house expertise, outsourcing may become unnecessary. At a time when a host of novel IT solutions are becoming available, the IT staff of NHS England are seeing their numbers radically reduced. At the same time, the NHS is becoming increasingly dependent on the services of large American IT corporations. Can we be assured—genuinely assured—that history will not be repeating itself?

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