John Van Reenen

There's lots of examples of huge public sector failures, but this was one of the biggest.

There's lots of examples of huge public sector failures, but this was one of the biggest.

There's lots of examples of huge public sector failures, but this was one of the biggest.

It was very much driven by, you know, the prime minister, Tony Blair. The other, quite praiseworthy.

It was very much driven by, you know, the prime minister, Tony Blair. The other, quite praiseworthy.

It was very much driven by, you know, the prime minister, Tony Blair. The other, quite praiseworthy.

I spent a year of my life working in the Department of Health when there was a big expansion in the UK National Health Service of resources and various attempts at reforms.

I spent a year of my life working in the Department of Health when there was a big expansion in the UK National Health Service of resources and various attempts at reforms.

I spent a year of my life working in the Department of Health when there was a big expansion in the UK National Health Service of resources and various attempts at reforms.

One of the key things that was thought could really be a game changer was to have electronic patient records. So you can see the history of patients, their conditions, what they've been treated with. And having that information, instead of having all this pieces of paper written illegibly by different physicians, you could actually have this in a single record.

One of the key things that was thought could really be a game changer was to have electronic patient records. So you can see the history of patients, their conditions, what they've been treated with. And having that information, instead of having all this pieces of paper written illegibly by different physicians, you could actually have this in a single record.

One of the key things that was thought could really be a game changer was to have electronic patient records. So you can see the history of patients, their conditions, what they've been treated with. And having that information, instead of having all this pieces of paper written illegibly by different physicians, you could actually have this in a single record.

would not only make it much easier to find what was going on with patients, but could also be used as a data source to try and help think about how patients could have more joined up care and could even maybe predict what kind of conditions they might have in the future.

would not only make it much easier to find what was going on with patients, but could also be used as a data source to try and help think about how patients could have more joined up care and could even maybe predict what kind of conditions they might have in the future.

would not only make it much easier to find what was going on with patients, but could also be used as a data source to try and help think about how patients could have more joined up care and could even maybe predict what kind of conditions they might have in the future.

It was very much driven by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This was a centralised, top-down approach in order to have a single IT system where you could access information. Instead of having all these different IT systems, these different siloed pieces of paper, to have it in one consistent national system. The NHS is a big operation, one of the biggest employers in the world.

It was very much driven by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This was a centralised, top-down approach in order to have a single IT system where you could access information. Instead of having all these different IT systems, these different siloed pieces of paper, to have it in one consistent national system. The NHS is a big operation, one of the biggest employers in the world.

It was very much driven by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. This was a centralised, top-down approach in order to have a single IT system where you could access information. Instead of having all these different IT systems, these different siloed pieces of paper, to have it in one consistent national system. The NHS is a big operation, one of the biggest employers in the world.

But then if you drill down into it, it is pretty fragmented. Each local general practitioner unit is self-employed. Each trust has a lot of autonomy. And that's part of the issue, is that this was a centralized, top-down program in a system where there's a lot of different fiefdoms, a lot of different pockets of power who are quite capable of resisting this.

But then if you drill down into it, it is pretty fragmented. Each local general practitioner unit is self-employed. Each trust has a lot of autonomy. And that's part of the issue, is that this was a centralized, top-down program in a system where there's a lot of different fiefdoms, a lot of different pockets of power who are quite capable of resisting this.