The NHS's electronic care records system is on track to be rolled out next year despite the sudden resignation of Richard Granger, who was in charge of implementing the system, the Department of Health claims.

Mr Granger is chief executive of the Department of Health agency Connecting for Health, which is responsible for new information technology (IT) systems in the NHS. He announced his departure two days after giving reassurances to MPs as part of the health select committee's inquiry into electronic patient records.

Although Mr Granger will stay in the post until October, there are fears that his departure could destabilise the £12.4bn (€18.3bn; $24.4bn) National Programme for IT in the NHS.

The programme includes electronic prescription and appointment booking services, a patients' care records service, and an x ray archiving and electronic transmission system.

MPs asked Mr Granger about current concerns over the core information exchange system for the programme. It is called the Lorenzo system and is being developed for the NHS by the company iSoft, which is currently the …