The Government risks driving out a skills base vital to the success
of its NHS IT strategy if it fails to consider the needs of smaller
NHS IT suppliers, industry analysts have warned.
Murray Bywater, managing director of health care IT specialist
Silicon Bridge Research, said, "[The NHS IT procurement strategy]
has to be done in a careful way to ensure that the existing market
structure is not destroyed. If you lose some of the smaller
companies, there is a risk that it could impact on the support of
existing systems. It could also cause us to lose some critical
skills."
Last week Richard Granger, the new NHS IT tsar, warned suppliers
that they must prove their ability to take part in the Government's
ambitious overhaul of health service IT.
A new NHS IT procurement strategy is expected to be unveiled in
January.
