EHI interview: Katie Davis

In her first interview since taking up post in July, Katie Davis, the managing director of NHS Informatics, says her focus is delivering the government’s ‘connect all’ agenda for NHS IT.

The ‘connect all’ philosophy was first set out in the Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2010-11 in December 2009, and reiterated by health minister Simon Burns at the end of a review of the National Programme for IT in the NHS last September.

So it is hardly new, and certainly not the outcome of the Cabinet Office review of NPfIT that was triggered by a critical National Audit Office report on the detailed care records element of the programme earlier this summer.

Nevertheless, when eHealth Insider interviewed her the week after the government used the conclusion of the Major Projects Authority’s review to announce an accelerated dismantling of NPfIT, Davis said that the programme was technically over.

“The NPfIT programme board had its final meeting two weeks ago,” she said, confirming that this also meant Sir David Nicholson was no longer its senior responsible officer.

Asked whether the NPfIT and NHS Connecting for Health brands had become too toxic to continue with, she cautiously replied: “Yes I suppose so.”

Up and down Whitehall

Davis is on a two-year secondment to the Department of Health from the Cabinet Office. She took up her present post after Christine Connelly, who had been both NHS chief information officer and DH director general of informatics, announced she was standing down at the end of June.

In doing so, she returned to a programme she first worked on back in 2004. A softly spoken American, with an impressive reputation for getting things done without a fuss, Davis comes across as approachable and keen to be transparent, where possible.

She told EHI that she sees her role as being to ensure the continuity of existing services and infrastructure. “NPfIT has never been a single programme,” she pointed out, “but about 20 different main projects and the majority of these will continue.”

Added up across the NHS, she said there were more than 500 programmes that need to be supported. “It’s not part of my job to reduce the number of programmes across the NHS, though it is possible there may be some that it no longer makes sense to continue with.”

She also said she wanted to support interoperability with a more diverse range of systems. “We need to position ourselves as the joiner-uppers,” she said. “In part where we have gone wrong is to focus too much on replacing existing systems rather than connecting up what are often good local existing systems.”

Davis also pointed out that there is a huge new requirement to support the information demands of the reforming NHS in areas such as clinical commissioning, which are still being thought through.

The government consulted on a new information strategy last year, but the strategy itself never emerged. EHI understands that after multiple drafts it remains a work in progress, but that it contains eight major strands and four over-arching themes, with publication pencilled in for “winter”.

Delivery of ‘connect all’ and creating a more vibrant marketplace are central themes. Davis admitted she found it ‘surprising’ that it had taken so long to deliver progress on the ‘connect all’ strategy, but it now needs to be set firmly within a framework of “value for money”, “local ownership” and a “focus on clinical benefits.”

This was a mantra she returned to repeatedly. She also said that a move to local determination required different behaviour and thinking from the NHS: “The NHS does need to be a good intelligent customer. Not one size fits all.”

Surprises good and bad

The government’s announcement of the accelerated dismantling of NPfIT came with an announcement that the DH is going to work with industry body Intellect to create a more vibrant health IT market.

Davis said an unfortunate consequence of NPfIT had been to stymie the health IT market. “There is a marketplace out there, but its growth has been stunted. Discussions with the Cabinet Office and others suggest the potential is there for a vibrant healthcare marketplace.”

However, she was also at pains to stress there is a range of different suppliers offering a variety of proven products already. She it was important for the NHS to have a better view on what is available and works.

“We want to be much more open and transparent across the healthcare marketplace and the benefits they are delivering and the solutions available.”

Davis stressed there would not just be a choice between local service provider, solutions but a significantly wider choice of products in use across the NHS.

Understandably, she was unable comment on the whether a new local service provider contract for CSC for the North, Midlands and East was getting closer or receding. But she confirmed that responsibility for managing the contract sat with her and her boss. “It sits squarely with me and with Sir David Nicholson.”

She added: “CSC is a partner of ours. We are continuing to talk to CSC, but on the contract negotiation I really can’t comment.”

Her central message was that the DH Informatics Directorate is there to work with trusts and suppliers to break the intertia of recent years and to get ‘connect all’ moving.

“I’m surprised that we haven’t progressed further over the past 18-months. There are some good reasons for that but the slow pace of change has surprised me. I am very keen to accelerate that change.”

Asked whether she had been given any nice surprises in her new job, she said: “Across my team and the NHS I’ve been very impressed by the quality and commitment of the people working on NHS IT, that’s been the biggest positive surprise so far.”

Katie Davis will be speaking at EHI Live 2011, where she will give the closing address. EHI Live 2011 takes place at the NEC in Birmingham from 7-8 November, and registration for the conference and free exhibition is open now.