The biggest threat to the NHS National programme is 'scaremongering' that undermines staff morale.

Speaking at the Government UK IT Forum in London this week, head of NHS IT Richard Granger warned that staff are demoralised by negative stories about the programme that conflict with their own experience.

'I'd like to draw a line under the scaremongering,' he said.

Granger claimed the project to update NHS IT systems would provide 'new and useful' improvements by 2005.

But this could only be achieved if his team, in conjunction with NHS senior managers, were given the space to carry out the change programme.

'Something will go wrong in the next 18 months - on a project of this scale, it's inevitable. But it feels uncomfortable saying that. Sadly, there are a number of forces that make a living out of failure, rather than success,' he said.