NHS patients are experiencing problems with the computerised booking system, according to new research.

In the survey carried out by University College London (UCL), two-thirds of respondents said they were not given a choice of date for their outpatient appointment, ITPro reports.

The Choose and Book system developed by Cerner and Atos Origin is aimed at providing patients with choices regarding their first outpatient appointment.

According to the website, Dr Henry Potts of the UCL centre for health informatics and multiprofessional education, who oversaw the study, commented that respondents had suggested "the choices they were offered weren't real choices, such as being offered treatment at hospitals that are a long way away".

He added that the study "raises many wider questions, such as what patients understand by choice and, indeed, whether they actually want choice".

Last month, ITPro reported that the government had launched a programme to deliver efficiency savings in its back-office operations and IT services.

Chief secretary to the treasury Yvette Cooper commented that the taxpayer "has a right to expect value for money".

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'