§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the end-user groups being consulted in the National Programme for Information Technology in the NHS. [R] [171823]
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§ Mr. HuttonConsultation has taken place with clinical representative groups, including the professional Royal Colleges, the General Medical Council, the British Medical Council and the NHS Confederation, all of whom have provided valuable input. As well as the national professional bodies and groups, the national programme for information technology (NPfIT) team has engaged closely with expert primary care practitioners, including practising general practitioners, who are there to represent and feedback issues with their professional colleagues.
The national clinical advisory board (NCAB) has ensured that the wide-ranging clinical needs and requirements are reflected in the design of the NPfIT solutions and integrated into the ongoing plans of the programme. Their work covered a variety of care settings, from cancer care to out of hours care. Since the appointment of Aidan Halligan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, as joint senior responsible owner and director general for NPfIT, plans are in hand to improve and review the formal arrangements for engaging with key stakeholders across the national health service. This will include a frontline support academy and wider patient groups and an announcement will be made later in summer.
The NPfIT has to date hosted around 400 local events, engaging managers, clinicians, allied health professionals and IT staff. Over 21,000 individuals have been involved. A series of national and regional joint events with the NHS Confederation began on 10 May, aimed at speaking directly to the chief executives and board members who need to lead local implementation.
§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the dates of(a) past and (b) planned future meetings of the clinical consultation group to the National Programme for Information Technology in the NHS are. [R] [171824]
§ Mr. HuttonPrevious meetings of the national clinical advisory board were held on
2 October 2003.27 November 2003.15 January 2004.16 March 2004.13 May 2004.The Department issued a press notice on 30 April 2004 to outline the plans to continue and improve engagement with patient and national health service stakeholders in order to support the implementation of the national programme for information technology (NPfIT). This follows on from the appointment of Aidan Halligan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, as joint senior responsible owner and director general for NpfIT, who now has responsibility for leading on the preparations and planning for implementation across the NHS.
The first step has been to set up a new frontline support academy for clinicians. The formal arrangements for engaging with key groups are also being reviewed and an announcement will be made later in the summer.
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§ Mr. NormanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost is of training(a) clinical staff and (b) non-clinical staff to use the information systems developed by the National Programme for Information Technology in the NHS. [R] [171826]
§ Mr. HuttonTraining plans are still evolving as is to be expected when approaching a phased programme of implementation and roll out of new applications, systems and services. The training requirements are not solely related to the national programme for information technology in the national health service in England (NPfIT) as general IT skills are now an everyday element for any public service and service based organisation. The European computer driving licence is helping to improve general skills across the NHS. The move to e-learning and development and the NHS University will both create more demand for computer and online skills and provide more channels and solutions to bring training to people.
As we complete the more detailed plans for each geographical cluster and local service provider contract, we can map out the extent of IT support for clinical practice and patient care over the phased implementation of NPfIT. This will generate clearer training requirements and will enable us to consider the most appropriate ways of providing training and development and produce firmer costs.