NHS IT boss pledges buying reform

The new NHS IT chief plans to get tough with technology suppliers to make sure the modernisation of the health service is a success.

Richard Granger, the newly appointed director general of NHS IT, will announce a streamlined purchasing process in January to support the National Programme for information and communication technology.

And he told vendors attending a Supplier Consultation Day in London this week that if they don't perform to the standards he expects they will lose contracts.

'There needs to be a greater emphasis on suppliers fully demonstrating their ability to play a major part in delivering the largest civil IT programme currently underway,' he said.

A new framework will transfer work to the suppliers that deliver, with an annual performance assessment to make sure they are meeting expectations.

'A major component of the procurement strategy will be to verify the functional performance, scalability and interoperability of suppliers' software offerings,' he said.

Granger will oversee an extra £1bn annual funding available from April 2003 to deliver critical national services such as electronic bookings, prescriptions and patient records.

'Extra resources are going in, but this is to be accompanied by reform. Payment will be made by results, the supplier community will be rewarded for delivery.'

The health service strategy - Delivering 21st century IT support across the NHS - was published in June, and consultation ended in August. Granger says the process showed that IT buying needs to be faster, fairer and more effective, and he is refining the strategy to take feedback into account.