Bob

> Interesting. So what is the percentage of expenditure on software
> licensing versus other medical costs in the UK? 

Well, I think if we looked into things like total cost of the health 
service that have to run due to historical social and other local 
conditions then total costs would be in terms of billions of dollars. 
 But ... we are the most highly over taxed country in western Europe 
and so there's plenty of public money about.

Yes ... I know you will say that in terms of total public expenditure 
the total spend of $100 000 000 is not all that much.  But ...  the 
bill for software used to be less and it keeps on going up.  I've had 
some very long discussions with all kinds of medical specialists over 
twenty years and just lately more than a few of them are geniunely 
worried about costs of computing.  Some of them even come to our LUG 
meetings so that they can understand more about Linux.  They even 
want to know about patient care packages that can be used with Linux. 
 There are some around but I think they are still in development.

There's also the standing argument about the NHS that they are no 
good at all at IT projects.  Even if they outsource to an IT 
specialist it still goes wrong.  You see the problems in managing the 
entire thing before we get round to the issue of how many people we 
lost last year ?

> high, particularly due to litigation. I'm not convinced that
> expenditures on software are significant enough to make the case
> that patients are being put at risk by them. They are high, to be
> sure, but I'm thinking (after careful re-reading of my e-mail) of
> your original statement.

It's a known fact that cost of litigation in the States puts up 
medical costs considerably.  Some of those things do happen over here 
sometimes.  But ,  generally the suggestion that someone in the NHS 
has to pay for anything other than drugs and hospitals and the other 
basics isn't a welcome subject for public debate and there are more 
than a few Government ministers who don't want to even talk about the 
awful subject of high cost software in the NHS.

Bill Gates did make a visit to No:10  Downing Street which is the 
Priministers office.  Tony Blairs popularity went downhill 
considerably when that happened.  I can't say that Microsoft's public 
image was improved all that much either.

Thanks


-- 
Richard