The NHS' much discussed eBookings system is a year behind schedule, because of problems linking computers in GPs' surgeries to those in hospitals.

The Choose-and-Book system was designed to give patients a choice of places they could be referred to when they needed specialist treatment. Sir Nigel Crisp, head of the NHS, said that this choice would still be available by the January 2006 deadline, the BBC reports.

The government was warned by the National Audit Office in January this year that it would miss the January 2006 deadline. Back then, then the spending watchdog noted that problems with the IT system underpinning the project were likely to cause delays.

As expected, the main difficulty has been getting the choose-and-book software to talk to all the different computer systems that are installed in GPs' surgeries.

Originally the government said it wanted 200,000 bookings to have been made through the system by the end of 2004. By January this year, just 63 referrals had been made. That figure is currently at around 20,000, still some way short of the 10 million appointments the government had hoped to be booking through the system when it goes live. ®

Related stories

• Choose and Book mixes up patient appointments (18 April 2008)
• NAO kicks DoH for Dr Foster move (6 February 2007)
• BMA may seek NHS records system boycott (22 December 2006)
• NHS N3 network over hurdles (23 March 2006)
• Talk to the badge (23 February 2006)
• Microsoft signs for NHS Wales (1 February 2006)
• Cost and confidentiality concerns undermine NHS IT plan (11 January 2006)
• A nice case of Mumps? (23 December 2005)
• Save money...work at home, says Telewest (15 November 2005)
• NHS's £6bn IT project in trouble, leaked email reveals (14 November 2005)
• US researchers tout HIV test-on-a-chip (4 November 2005)
• Watmore government policies? (2 November 2005)
• NHS staff oblivious to £6.2bn IT programme (13 September 2005)
• NPfIT still failing to engage doctors (5 August 2005)
• Doctors and technology: do they mix? (13 July 2005)
• London's NHS IT boss suspended (19 April 2005)
• NHS chief cans patient control over health record access (30 March 2005)
• DoH broadens technology choice for GPs (23 March 2005)
• GPs have no faith in £6bn NHS IT programme (8 February 2005)
• Flagship NHS project in danger (19 January 2005)