Patients going to see Dr Paul Thornton, a GP in Kingsbury, Warwickshire, were told that his new computer system would allow them to be referred to a consultant in a matter of seconds.

There would be no more need to wait while he wrote letters to hospitals, which took weeks to process. Arrangements for their treatment could be made online in a few clicks, while they watched.

But the technology, the NHS’s new Choose and Book system, was slow and clunky and crashed frequently, Dr Thornton said.

He complained to the agency running the NHS programme, Connecting for Health, and was given an interim system that did not work much better. In the interim system, he said: “We had to enter the patient’s details and the system would give you a username and a password which we would give to the patient. They went away and rang a helpdesk which would sort out a hospital appointment. The trouble was that the patients were being diverted to hospitals which were not appropriate. Some were sent to departments 50 miles away.”

That system prevented GPs from matching patients to individual consultants. “It took away the personal quality of the process,” he said. “It failed to take into account that we look for consultants who will be able to respond to the individual patient.”

Within three months he stopped using the system, as had others, he said. New technology was crucial, “but they have got to get it right”.

Not all NHS professionals dislike the new technology. Simon Eccles, an A&E consultant at Homerton Hospital, East London, uses BT’s Cerner Millennium to order tests and book appointments. “I work in a fast-moving environment and the system allows us to see exactly what’s happening with every patient,” he said. “It’s fantastic.”

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax