Comments by "David Getling" (@DavidGetling) on "NHS Needs IT Systems That Are "Much Better And More Efficient"" video.

As someone who worked as a software developer for over 20 years, and was probably in the top couple of percent, let me tell you how government I.T. contracts work. They are tendered to so-called software houses: typically the one with the cheapest bid. Unfortunately these bids are kept low because these companies do not employ the most able developers, but the cheapest they can get away with. Well, there's an old saying: "you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". There really is an order of magnitude difference between the productivity of top-notch developers and average ones. So not employing the best is actually a massive false economy. But try explaining this to the highly resentful managers of these software houses, who are invariably promoted into these positions because they were no bloody good at doing the real work themselves. By the way, I was extremely well paid because I worked as a freelancer in the City of London.
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