NPfIT stunted NHS IT market: Davis

Katie Davis

Katie Davis, the managing director of NHS Informatics, has said that the defunct National Programme for IT in the NHS “stunted” the NHS IT market.

In an exclusive interview with eHealth Insider, Davis said that the delivery of the government’s ‘connect all’ strategy will depend on reversing this trend.

Creating a more vibrant market will require greater openness and transparency, for the NHS to be an “intelligent customer”, and for there to be a new focus on value for money, clinical benefits and local choice.

“There is a marketplace out there, but its growth has been stunted," Davis said, although she emphasised that there remains a diverse range of capable companies supplying proven products.

Davis took over as the head of NHS IT when Christine Connelly, who was both NHS chief information officer and Department of Health director general of informatics, stood down at the end of June.

She had been working at the Cabinet Office, which has become closely involved with reviews of the national programme and its remaining contracts.

Asked for her view of NPfIT, Davis 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."

She admitted to being “surprised” that it has taken so long to begin to redirect NPfIT to deliver the 'connect all' strategy, which is focused on connecting up and building on existing systems, using standards and interoperability.

This has been government policy for more than 18 months, and Davis made it clear that she intends to quicken the pace of change.

Although the Health and Social Care Bill has yet to be enacted, she said it is clear that the NHS will require very different information systems to support the latest reforms and to deliver the dramatic efficiency savings demanded over the next four years without a reduction in quality.

The government consulted on a new information strategy to support its reforms last year, but the strategy itself has never been published. Davis said it remains a work in progress, but should be published this winter.

On the other big piece of unfinished NPfIT business, the new deal with CSC for the North, Midlands and East of England, Davis said she was unable to comment. But she made it clear that it is a priority to resolve the situation.

In her interview, however, Davis was at pains to stress the theme of continuity as well as change, particularly when it comes to services that the NHS has come to rely on.

“NPfIT has never been a single programme, but about 20 different main projects and the majority of these will continue," she said.

Added up across the NHS she said there were in excess of over 500 programmes that need supporting, and she is reviewing how this should be done in the future.

Read the full interview in the Insight section. Katie Davis will be one of the keynote speakers at EHI Live 2011, where she will give the closing address on 8 November. Registration for the conference and free exhibition is open now.