The government is to scale back its £12bn NHS IT system in what the Tories are calling a "massive U-turn".

英国政府将缩减其120亿英镑的国民健康保险制度信息系统，托利党称其为“巨大的掉头”。

The NHS computer system has been hit by delays and cost over-runs

Chancellor英大臣 Alistair Darling said he would be delaying parts of the scheme in Wednesday's pre-Budget Report as it was "not essential to the front line".

The move may save hundreds of millions but Mr Darling admitted it was only a fraction分数，小部分 of total spending cuts needed.

The Tories and Lib Dems have been calling for the IT system, which has been hit by costly² delays, to be axed砍.

Mr Darling told BBC One's Andrew Marr show he was determined³ to halve⁴ Britain's budget deficit预算赤字 over the next four years and as a result public spending would be "a lot tighter than it was in the past".

He stressed that the pre-Budget report was not a spending review, but added: "I do think it is necessary for me to indicate areas where we are going to cut spending or where we're not going to spend as much as we were.

"For example, the NHS had a quite expensive IT system that, frankly⁶, isn't essential to the front line.

"It's something I think we don't need to go ahead with just now."

He said the full picture of cuts would not emerge until "the first half of next year at some point" - a reference to the comprehensive spending review, which the government has delayed until after an election.