Getting down with the sickness.
Either the article is pretty short on details of exactly what, messages are subject to this charge, or I am dense to understand the article. Possibly the latter.
We're IT types. The NHS isn't. And 18p a message is cheaper than a stamp, so represents considerable savings, and excellent value for money to for the NHS! What exactly is a 'message' you say? Well, that would be a result for a specific test. 18p for red cell count, 18p for white and there's probably some other stuff in most people's blood. I'm just interested in the alchohol content! <hic> Now, moving on to the next question. Yes, £8m is excellent value for money, and don't you know there's a war on!
But such is politics. I'm also a bit suprised. System set up to do data exchange can't exchange data and can't simply have a new test code & results field added. I mean it's not like it's being asked to do something complicated, like add PCT cycle counts, or explain why that creates false positives, it's just a pass/fail. Or why the system can't scale. Ok, so it's got a few more suppliers, and probably customers, like say the BBC so they can keep their 'case' count updated in (su)real time.. I mean they're vital in keeping the public informed*.
But we're IT types, so sadly used to seeing stuff like this happening.
* Ah, BBC headline writers..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55550748
"Dad had to choose between breathing and drinking fluids"
Ok, so the story was slightly more involved, although still normal for hospitals. Trying to do both at the same time is something most of us learn not to do at an early age.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
