Government announces National Programme for IT abolition

The government has confirmed that it will be scrapping the NHS National Programme for IT after it was declared unfit for purpose.

A review conducted by the Cabinet Office's Major Projects Authority has deemed that the IT programme, which was introduced in 2002 by the former Labour administration, has not and will not be able to deliver on its original goals.

Several accomplishments were acknowledged as having been achieved successfully, such as the formation of the Spine, N3 Network, NHSmail and Choose and Book services, with these elements set to remain in place.

However, the overall service model was deemed to be overly centralised, given the more locally-focused reform proposals being outlined by the government.

The Department of Health said: "The exchange of information between patients and clinicians and across the NHS is a fundamental part of how we are centring care on patients and making sure innovation and choice are fully supported."

This comes in the same month that the House of Commons passed the controversial Health and Social Care Bill, which will play a key role in the government's plans to reorganise the NHS.