A multi-billion-pound revamp of the NHS computer system is “descending into chaos”, warned MP Richard Bacon.

It is the biggest computer project in the world and has been blighted by technical problems and spiralling costs.

The on-the-ball South Norfolk MP, who was chosen by MPs as Backbencher of the Year for his work in exposing the foreign prisons scandal, has urged the Government to pull the plug on the scheme before it ended up “sleepwalking towards disaster”.

He is a member of the Commons Public Accounts Committee and has called for the controversial programme to be decentralised and for control to be given back to hospitals locally.

Under the government’s plans, GPs, clinics and hospitals across the country would be linked together by computer – allowing appointments to be arranged instantly and giving patients more choice on where to receive treatment.

Richard believes hospital chief executives across the country should instead be given personal responsibility – and funding – for purchasing computer systems locally.

As things stand, the upgrade of NHS computers, the largest IT project in the world, has been dogged by controversy and criticised for over-centralisation. Crucially, it does not have the confidence of clinical staff.

And the programme’s largest software supplier, iSoft, is under investigation by the Financial Services Authority for possible accounting irregularities.

Richard warned:

“The National Programme for IT in the NHS is currently sleepwalking towards disaster. It is far behind schedule. Projected costs have spiralled. Key software systems have little chance of ever working properly. Clinical staff are losing confidence in it. Many local trusts are considering opting out of the programme altogether.

“These problems are a consequence of over-centralisation, over-ambition and an obsession with quick political fixes.

“This programme is costing taxpayers a king’s ransom but it is descending into chaos. Our paper proposes a solution which would reduce the scale, cost and risk of the National Programme and accelerate the delivery of benefits to all NHS staff”.

It was only a short while ago that the Government faced chaos after a new computer system was blamed for delayed payments to farmers, causing hardship and financial ruin.

I don’t understand why this Government can’t install reliable, efficient computer systems that work. Don’t we have the technology? In theory, it sounds helpful to have a national shared NHS database, but can you imagine the chaos it would cause if it crashed?

If the progamme is scrapped, I wonder how much public money has been wasted. How many extra nurses salaries would it have paid for?