Towards a critical approach to benefits realisation of information systems in the National Health Service

This paper discusses a conceptual approach to the study of benefits realisation of information systems (IS) within the context of the UK National Health Service (NHS). Benefits realisation has become an important topic of study for both academics and practitioners. The focus and concerns of such studies cover a spectrum of concepts ranging from positivist to more interpretive discussion with many prescribing practical methods for effective delivery of benefits from investment in IS. However, much of this work has failed to translate espoused ideals into successful action and insufficient attention has been given to the social and political aspects of the topic. Furthermore, closer inspection of the literature reveals that use of concepts is varied and somewhat fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing knowledge on benefits realisation of IS, propose a framework that synthesises existing research and suggest what is missing is a critical approach.