Intellect welcomes NHS IT chief's budget comments
Richard Granger maintains the government needs to spend the full four per cent of NHS budget on IT to maximise potential
IT trade body Intellect has welcomed the statement made by NHS IT director Richard Granger that the government needs to spend the allocated four per cent of the NHS budget on IT.
Granger, who presides over the £7bn NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) upgrade said the money is needed to improve operations and ultimately patient care.
John Higgins, director general at Intellect said: “Richard Granger’s comments demonstrate that government appreciates the significance of technology for healthcare. Intellect believes that healthcare IT spending should be four per cent of the total NHS budget, in line with the 2002 Wanless report. This will enable a more effective and efficient healthcare system. Currently only about half of this amount is spent in England.
“It is vital that today’s statement is built upon. We urge the government and the Department of Health to honour this commitment in order to improve patient care,” Higgins added.
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