Website of the Department of Health

Delivering 21st century IT support for the NHS: national strategic programme

This national strategic programme is concerned with major developments in the deployment and use of Information Technology (IT) in the NHS. It aims to connect delivery of the NHS Plan with the capabilities of modern information technologies to: - support the patient and the delivery of services designed around the patient, quickly, conveniently and seamlessly; - support staff through effective electronic communications, betterlearning and knowledge management, cut the time to find essential information (notes, test results) and make specialised expertise more accessible; - improve management and delivery of services by providing good quality data to support NSFs, clinical audit, governance and management information. The programme focuses on the NHS but parallel developments in Social Care ITwill also be taken forward.