Dilip Kuner
THE company behind the UK Post Office’s disastrous Horizon system, that saw innocent postmasters jailed, has signed a deal to provide AI based software for Andalucia’s health care system.
Fujitsu, whose software played a central role in the wrongful convictions of many UK postmasters, is now set to create an AI-driven research lab in Andalucia. The project is part of a broader initiative to digitise the region’s public health sector, focusing on improving disease diagnosis and healthcare efficiency.
But Fujitsu’s involvement in one of the UK’s most high-profile miscarriages of justice is casting a long shadow over its new venture.
The UK Post Office scandal saw over 700 subpostmasters wrongfully convicted of fraud, theft, and false accounting due to faulty software, the Horizon system, supplied by Fujitsu.
The software misrepresented financial data, leading to postmasters being blamed for discrepancies they didn’t cause.
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Many of those affected lost their jobs, homes, and even their freedom, with some spending time in prison before the convictions were overturned.
In the aftermath, a UK parliamentary inquiry heavily criticised Fujitsu for its failure to address the issues with its software and for not taking responsibility sooner.
Fujitsu has since apologised and committed to compensating the victims, but many feel the company has not done enough to make amends.
With Fujitsu now expanding its presence in Spain’s healthcare system, the company’s critics have expressed concern over its ability to handle such sensitive data.
Alan Bates, the founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters campaign, which has fought for the victims of the UK scandal, voiced his unease. “Fujitsu’s involvement in public services should raise alarms,” Bates told The Guardian. “They’ve caused immense harm here in the UK, and yet they seem to be moving forward with little accountability. Spain needs to proceed with caution.”
Bates added that while Fujitsu has issued public apologies for its role in the scandal, many of the victims are still waiting for full compensation, and the company’s history raises doubts about its ability to handle the responsibility of managing healthcare data.
While the promise of AI in healthcare is significant, some experts are wary of Fujitsu’s track record. Dr. Peter Bradley, a digital health expert, highlighted the potential risks of allowing a company with such a controversial history to manage sensitive healthcare data.
“Fujitsu’s history with the Horizon system raises legitimate concerns about its ability to handle critical data like medical records,” Dr. Bradley said.
“Trust is essential in healthcare, and given their past failures, there are serious questions about whether they are the right fit for this kind of work.”
Fujitsu has repeatedly defended its role in the UK Post Office scandal, stating that the errors in its software were unintentional and that the company has taken steps to ensure its technology is now more reliable.
The company has emphasised that lessons have been learned from the mistakes of the past and that its current technology meets the highest standards of accuracy and security.
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Why is Spain awarding a Japanese company – with this kind of bad reputation – instead of awarding a company from inside the EU which is specialized in IT for health care? Gematic has also its pitfalls, but nobody has ever been sent to jail by its software.