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Britain's new multi-billion pound NHS IT system has been blamed for causing child vaccination uptake rates to be at risky levels, a health watchdog has claimed.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that of the ten London trusts installed with the £6.8 billion IT system, uptake rates for MMR jabs are said to be only 19 per cent.

In addition to the low rate, 50,000 children are lacking data which could also put them at risk as doctors cannot remind them about booster injections and other appointments.

Conservative MP Richard Bacon said that the while the national vaccination programme was a "great success", the new IT system risked "destroying it at a touch of a button".

Overrunning on both cost and time, the NHS IT programme has come under repeated fire from both politicians and doctors over its implementation, prompting many people to switch to private health care instead.

While the NHS told BBC News that part of the problem was a last minute switch in the system's supplier, it claimed that despite the HPA's findings the alternative would have been "far worse".

© Adfero Ltd

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