Five of 15 IT projects run by the Department of Health and its agencies are costing £247,000 more than expected.

Health minister Ben Bradshaw produced the figures in response to a written parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable.

A project to replace the medical benefits system, which will be completed in March rather than last December is £25,000 (3.7 per cent) over its £680,000 budget. It was explained that this was due to "underestimation of supplier costs and unexpected technical complexities".

The NHS car leasing project, which is on schedule for completion in July, is £20,000 (20 per cent) over its £100,000 budget, because it was using an estimate made before its procurement had been finished. NHS reference costs for 2008 have been increased from £1.154m to £1.227m.

Together, the five over budget items cost £289,000 more than planned. The overall figures were flattered by £42,000 less than expected being spent on Delphi, the department's intranet enhancement project – which is currently on hold with no completion date, although three of its four project modules have been finished.

The data covered the department, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency.

This article was originally published at Kablenet.

Kablenet's GC weekly is a free email newsletter covering the latest news and analysis of public sector technology. To register click here.

Related stories

• NHS IT procurement leaves solid carbon footprint (2 June 2008)
• Wireless can be good for your health (14 May 2008)
• Information watchdog raps Government over access to data (15 April 2008)
• Majority of NHSmail accounts are inactive (25 March 2008)
• N3 dominates NHS IT savings (14 March 2008)
• Work and pensions IT projects £315m over budget (12 March 2008)
• Etech Hacking for public health (10 March 2008)
• Poor data handling keeps prisoners inside (5 March 2008)
• NPfIT director general hands in his scrubs (8 February 2008)
• Tories offer NHS IT rescue plan after major patient data losses (24 December 2007)
• Info chief prescribes shock therapy for health dept (20 December 2007)
• Website addresses health inequalities in England (24 August 2007)
• Bradshaw assumes NPfIT minister's mantle (23 July 2007)