Government plots £700m NHS IT cuts

Department of Health announces £700m NHS IT savings plan

DoH claims changes will bring IT closer to the NHS frontline

The government hopes to trim £700m off the cost of implementing the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) by localising its activities.

In a statement, the Department of Health (DoH) confirmed the £12bn project’s procurement strategy will be de-nationalised and become locally led in future.

It also confirmed that all the pre-existing contracts awarded under the programme will be honoured.

Health minister Simon Burns said a national approach was no longer appropriate to deliver on the NPIT’s objectives.

He said: “Moving IT systems closer to the frontline will release £700m extra in savings. Every penny saved through productivity gains will be reinvested to improve patient care.”

The future of the project has been under scrutiny since the government announced a review of all ICT projects being undertaken by government departments in June.

The DoH claims the proposed changes will make it easier for NHS organisations to implement and manage future IT deployments.

Christine Connelly, NHS director general for informatics at DoH, said: “We need to change the way IT supports [the NHS], bringing decisions [about IT] closer to the frontline and ensuring that change is manageable and holds less risk for NHS organisations."