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NHS IT loses another leading light

Tags:
Aidan Halligan,
NHS IT

Kable

Published: 23 Sep 2004 14:10 BST

The departure of a leading official responsible for the NHS IT programme means the scheme has lost its second clinical chief in six months.

Professor Aidan Halligan, the joint senior responsible owner for the £6bn NHS IT programme, is to leave his post in order to serve as the chief executive officer for the Irish Health Service Executive, it was announced on Wednesday.

Halligan, who was appointed at the same level as NHS IT director general Richard Granger, had responsibility for the programme's efforts to work with clinicians. The departure means that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) has lost its two most senior officials responsible for bringing doctors on board over the last six months.

In April this year, professor Peter Hutton stepped down as head of the National Clinical Advisory Board amid concerns over engagement with doctors.

Chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson acknowledged that Halligan had already made an impact with the NPfIT.

"Aidan has made a very positive contribution to our work, in particular in developing clinical governance and improving the quality of care. His leadership in the transformation to modernise medical training and more recently helping to lead the National Programme for IT will also leave a positive legacy. We are sorry to be losing Aidan so soon but I wish him well in his new post," he said.

Halligan is to start his new role in April 2005.

Meanwhile, health minister John Hutton announced that the NPfIT has delivered a new software system to provide GP practices and Primary Care Trusts with feedback on the quality of their patient care.

The Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS) allows doctors to submit data in order to claim financial rewards if they meet targets under the new General Medical Services contract.

"QMAS is an excellent example of how investment in IT is helping doctors to deliver better patient care because the system facilitates payments based on the quality of care given by GPs," Hutton said on Thursday.