Another UK Health Project Dies

The UK National Health Service is cancelling an IT-related contract due to problems with the vendor. From an article on silicon.com:

The move was taken when it became clear that Atos Healthcare - part of IT services company Atos Origin - was not in a position to provide the services to the timescale agreed in the contract, the Department of Health said.

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Atos Healthcare said in a statement: “The Department of Health yesterday advised Atos Healthcare that it did not intend to proceed with its centrally procured Diagnostic Services contracts for the North West and South West regions. We are in the process of engaging in discussions with the Department of Health to agree the final termination details of the contract.”

The NHS has an absolutely terrible record of IT-related project failures. How did they select a vendor that is incapable of completing the work? One can only guess.