NHS IT exec steps down

A key executive in charge of engaging doctors, clinicians and frontline staff to ensure a smooth rollout of the £6bn NHS IT programme has announced he will step down, after just six months in charge.

Deputy chief medical officer Professor Aidan Halligan will leave next April to take up the post of CEO of the Irish Health Service Executive. Halligan was brought in to work alongside NHS IT boss Richard Granger in April this year to promote the new IT programme among staff and given the title 'director general of benefits realisation'.

Initiatives included a tour of frontline Trusts and a support academy that includes mock-up NHS environments for staff to learn how to use the new systems.

Halligan said in a statement: "This is a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. To be head of the Irish Health Service will be an honour and an exciting chance for me to return to my roots. I have learnt a great deal over the last 10 years in the NHS and I'm looking forward to using that experience to give something back."

Until April, Halligan will continue his work with the NHS IT programme and said it will be "business as usual".

In a separate announcement, the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS has delivered a new software system to provide GPs with evidence and feedback on their performance. Under the General Medical Services Contract for GPs introduced in April, those with good performance ratings are eligible for special payments.

The Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS) is now available to over half of GP practices.

Commenting on QMAS, Halligan said in a statement: "It shows how IT can, put simply, improve the working life of hard-pressed GPs."