NHS IT strategy will be ‘locally led’

 A new approach to implementation will take a modular approach, allowing NHS organisations to introduce smaller, more manageable change, in line with their business requirements and capacity. NHS services will be the customers of a more plural system of IT embodying the core assumption of “connect all”, rather than “replace all” systems. This reflects the coalition Government’s commitment to ending top-down government and enabling localised decision-making. The review of the National Programme for IT has also concluded that retaining a national infrastructure will deliver best value for taxpayers. Applications such as Choose and Book, Electronic Prescription Service and PACS have been delivered and are now integrated with the running of current health services. Now there is a level of maturity in these applications they no longer need to be managed as projects but as IT services under the control of the NHS. Consequently, in line with the broader NHS reforms, the National Programme for IT will no longer be run as a centralised national programme and decision making and responsibility will be localised. Professor Iain Carpenter, co-director of the Royal College of Physicians’ Health Informatics Unit, responded: “Taking the decision to align IT systems more closely with the needs of the frontline is a good idea in theory. The real challenge though will rest in making sure that we get the right health informatics structures in place. One of the dirty secrets of the NHS is the regrettable state of medical record keeping. “Earlier reports have shown that this compromises patient safety and clinical care. If IT in the health service is going to regain the confidence of the medical profession then more emphasis has to be placed by the DH on making sure that the new systems accurately capture the dialogue between doctor and patient. Everything else flows from getting that right.”