HSC kept quiet for five months about patient records overspend
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE knew it was losing control of the budget on its flagship IT project nearly five months before it told the States to expect a £5m. overspend.
In March, Deputy Gavin St Pier claimed that it was already known that the new electronic patient record system would end up significantly over budget.
But on 18 April, HSC informed all States members that the project was ‘under budget’ and expected to cost about £1m. less than the amount approved, including any contingency spending, with another financial review due by the end of the month.
HSC president Al Brouard has defended his committee’s communications about the overspend.
‘It was flagged earlier in the year, around Easter time [Sunday 31 March],’ he said.
‘From that point, knowing that there may well be an issue, it was then a matter of ensuring that we understood exactly what that issue was and how it was made up.
‘Because they are also doing the day job, it has taken a while for the people involved to put together all that information and to project forward how the project will pan out.
‘Although we were flagged that there was an issue, work then had to be done to understand exactly what that issue was and what the figures attached to each element were.’
The project has also been hit by delays.
At the end of April, HSC was told that the first stage of the new system would be ready in 2025 rather than this year. The committee immediately informed other States members.
It has since announced further delays. But HSC has insisted that it could not at that time have told other States members about the overspend and did so as soon as possible.
Earlier this month, Deputy Brouard said his committee was informed about the size of the projected overspend on 13 August, but he has now clarified that it was actually one week later than that.
‘On 20 August, the HSC Committee was informed of the increase in projected costs to £22.2m., including a £490,000 contingency.
‘At the earliest opportunity, on 4 September, I gave the update on the latest cost implications to the Assembly.’
When the project was initially approved by the previous States, in May 2020, it had an indicative budget of up to £20m., but during the current States it was reduced to £17.3m., which Deputy Brouard has said was done ‘on best advice at the time’.
HSC has been hit by a series of setbacks to major capital projects in recent months.
Only last month it was forced to delay opening the first phase of its redevelopment of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
Earlier this year, the Guernsey Press uncovered that the estimated cost of the second phase of the PEH redevelopment had escalated from £120m. to £150m., and Deputy Brouard revealed that States officials had concealed the soaring costs from his committee for nearly a year, and that his committee had itself failed to inform Policy & Resources for months.
