IT Business
New minister to oversee £12.7bn NHS IT programme
Mike O’ Brien joins without former health experience
By Leo King | Computerworld UK | Published 14:13, 09 June 09
Mike O’ Brien MP, former minister for pension reform, will now take a post at the Department of Health overseeing the £12.7 billion National Programme for IT.
As the new minister of state for health services, O’Brien replaces Ben Bradshaw, who has moved to become culture secretary as part of prime minister Gordon Brown’s cabinet reshuffle.
Also in this channel
Virtualisation, Big Data and BYOD
Check out our Business IT Hub for opinions and briefings. Read more
O’ Brien faces a raft of challenges as he oversees Connecting for Health, the agency managing the highly troubled IT programme.
NOW READ:
Exclusive: NHS patients may be ‘refused treatment’ for opting-out of electronic care record
Last week, Computerworld UK revealed that some NHS managers had threatened to refuse treatment to patients who do not want electronic summary care records, according to doctors.
The news prompted outrage from the British Medical Association. But Connecting for Health said refusing treatment to patients who opted out was strictly against its instructions and ethics.
The programme is already four years late and has experienced some disastrous early rollouts.
