Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned in-service date is for the cortisone IT programme for the Defence Medical Services; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding for that programme.

The Cortisone Programme is scheduled to achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in July 2022 with the roll-out of new Primary Medical Care IT services to fixed medical treatment facilities, in the UK and overseas. IOC will be deemed achieved when 80% of the MTFs are successfully operating the new services. Some user benefits from the Programme are expected earlier, from January 2021, when the medical information services interface between the Ministry of Defence and the National Health Service is improved.

Cortisone capability will be brought into service through Agile delivery methodologies. The Cortisone business case, approved in 2018, contained a model of the anticipated cost of delivery, rather than a firm cost provided by a preferred bidder. The model has been demonstrated to be robust, and we are confident that the capability expressed in the business case can be delivered with the funds approved.