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Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham has launched a defence of the National Programme for IT in the NHS in the House of Commons. In an emergency statement on the future of the programme triggered by comments made by Chancellor Alastair Darling on Sunday, Burnham said the programme was a “key part of the modernisation of the NHS” and that the health service could not function without it.

On the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, the Chancellor had indicated that NPfIT was “not essential to the frontline” and that it might be something “we do not need to go ahead with right now.” However, Burnham indicated that the Chancellor had not been talking about the whole programme or even whole projects within it.

Burnham said £600m would be saved from the £12.7 billion IT programme, which includes projects such as the Summary Care Record and Choose and Book.

Taken from: www.e-health-insider.com/news/5454/burnham_defends_npfit_but_cuts_%C2%A3600m