Connecting for Health, the agency that runs the national
programme for IT in the NHS, has agreed with 23 leading academics
that an independent audit of the scheme could be
valuable.
The agency's agreement came when Richard Granger, director
general of NHS IT, met academics last week at Richmond House, the
headquarters of the Department of Health.
The meeting was arranged at short notice after Computer Weekly
revealed that the 23 experts in computer-related sciences had
written an open letter to the House of Commons Health Committee
asking for an independent audit of the national programme.
In a statement, Connecting for Health said that at the meeting
on 20 April "there was agreement that a constructive and pragmatic
independent review of the programme could be valuable".
Both parties "agreed to meet again to consider further details
of how such a review might best be conducted and its terms of
reference".
The agreement was in contrast to the initial hostile reaction to
the audit call by health minister Caroline Flint.
Computer Weekly editor Hooman Bassirian said, "The announcement
by Connecting for Health that it accepts the value of an
independent audit of the national programme for IT is a significant
step forward in helping ensure that the world's largest civil IT
project is on track to meet its original objectives and
deadlines.
"It would be inappropriate for either Connecting for Health, or
any organisation it recommends, to be involved in setting the terms
of reference, appointing the independent auditors, or overseeing
the research and production of the final report.
"The organisation that is best placed to oversee these
activities is the House of Commons Health Select Committee."
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