Lack of healthcare expertise of new NHS IT bosses may cause problems

Experience in running large projects may not be enough, says analyst

Private sector IT skills may not be enough to support NPfIT

Questions over the appointment of the new senior IT executives at NHS has raised doubts over their ability to handle Connecting for Health, the broader NHS and the private sector suppliers network working on the £12.7 bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

NHS’ new chief information officer (CIO) Christine Connelly (formerly a CIO at Cadbury Schweppes) and new director of programme and system delivery Martin Bellamy (previously a CIO at the Pension Service) bring years of IT experience, but the no familiarity with the healthcare may represent an issue, says Tola Sargeant, principal analyst at Ovum.

“Both [Connelly and Bellamy] bring relevant skills but they lack experience in the healthcare sector or NHS,” said Sargeant.

“A similar lack of understanding of the NHS has led to problems in the past within Connecting for Health, so it is vital that they are brought up to speed quickly and make an effort to win over sceptical clinicians,” she said.

NHS’ new staff are a result of the Health Informatics Review and a split of former director general Richard Granger's job in two.

Connelly will be the first chief information officer for health and will focus on developing and delivering the department's overall information strategy. Bellamy will be reporting to her and will lead NHS Connecting for Health and focus on enhancing partnerships.

“Both Connelly and Bellamy are experienced CIOs and used to running large IT projects. Both will also bring skills from the private sector – as is increasingly common for public sector CIOs, neither of them are career civil servants,” said Sargeant.

“While this experience will be useful as the pair take control of the NHS’s IT and get to grips with the £12bn NPfIT, it is a shame that neither of them has any previous experience of the health sector or NHS IT,” she said.