NHS IT bodies get organisational overhaul

The NHS Information Authority (NHSIA) is to be abolished as part of government reforms that will see the multi-billion pound National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS become an executive agency of the Department of Health (DoH).

The move is part of wider plans to reduce the number of NHS bodies that work at "arm's length" from the DoH. These "arm's length bodies" (ALBs) are stand-alone national organisations sponsored by the DoH undertaking executive functions from back-office to clinical-related work.

NPfIT will incorporate the IT infrastructure responsibilities of the NHSIA under its new Executive Agency status, which will last between three and five years. Executive Agency status is only given to bodies with national responsibility for specific business areas of the NHS such as purchasing and estates.

A spokesman for NPfIT told silicon.com the move is a positive step that will provide a firm organisational and constitutional basis for the future.

"Executive Agency status will provide us with the strong accountability and governance necessary for a programme of this size and scale – along with the flexible management arrangements necessary to complete its tasks successfully," he said.

Health secretary John Reid said in a written House of Commons statement that reducing the number of ALBs by almost half will generate resources equivalent to four new hospitals or 20,000 more nurses by 2008. It is consistent with the Treasury's plans to minimise bureaucracy and devolve power to the frontline of public services following the Gershon Review.