BMJ  2004;328:1200 (15 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1200

Letter

NHS national programme for information technology

Changes must involve clinicians and show the value to patient care

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The resignation of Peter Hutton, from his position as chairman of the National Clinical Advisory Board of the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT), has highlighted the lack of clinicians' engagement with this £6bn project.

The advisory board represents a much needed injection of resources to NHS information technology systems, which could bring many benefits to care for patients and clinicians' working practices. The Wanless reports have emphasised the importance of information technology in the future of healthcare in the United Kingdom.¹ A national programme could avoid the problems around interoperability associated with past failures in NHS information technology systems.

However, the secrecy surrounding the procurement phase of the programme has led to an increasing feeling of unease among clinician end users. Anxieties prevail about changes in working practices, usability of systems, training needs, and the possibility that political expediency will overshadow clinical needs.

Aidan Halligan, the deputy . . . [Full text of this article]

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BMA Information Technology Committee, BMA House, London WC1H 9JP John.Powell@soton.ac.uk

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