APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR - NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR IT

25 Nov 2004 11:45 AM

Role to further boost clinical engagement

Health Minister John Hutton today announced that Alan Burns, chief executive of Trent Strategic Health Authority, has been appointed to a new role leading the service implementation of the National Programme for IT into the NHS.

The role is a 15 month secondment combining three days a week at the National Programme with his existing SHA role.

John Hutton said:

"Engaging clinicians and NHS management in planning and preparation for the successful implementation of the National Programme continues to be an important priority.

"Alan will take forward and build on existing work and initiatives. Alan has recruited national clinical champions - hospital doctor leaders, GP leaders and a nurse - as part of a structure being finalised for service implementation in association with the leaders of the professions."

Outlining his vision, Alan Burns, director for service implementation said:

"The National Programme has achieved a great deal so far, but to make it truly work we have to deliver hearts and minds and usage. The national clinical champions are clinically credible, experienced people that the professions trust. They will communicate between the Programme and the service in both directions; they will have complete knowledge, understanding and influence of, and into, the Programme; and they will liaise closely with the Care Record Development Board.

"Virtually all of service implementation focuses on communication and empowerment. I want to make the communication and engagement chain work. I want it to be frontline led so priorities will be set by what the service sends back up the chain."

The National Programme is delighted that Alan has agreed to take up this new post. He brings a wealth of NHS knowledge and experience to the Programme. He has already made a significant contribution to the Programme as senior responsible owner for the eastern cluster.

The national clinical champions who have been appointed are:

- Ian Scott, medical director and director of information at the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and chairman of the East Suffolk National Programme Implementation Board, who will share the hospital doctor leader role

- Dr Simon Eccles, chairman of the Junior Doctors Committee of the British Medical Association, who will share the hospital doctor leader role

- Heather Drabble OBE, who sits on the Modernisation Board which advises on and oversees the implementation of the NHS Plan. She is currently chief nurse for the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Heather is the national clinical nurse leader

- Professor Mike Pringle, who is Professor of General Practice at the University of Nottingham, where he also heads up the School of Community Health Services, who will share the GP leader role

- Dr Gillian Braunold, who has been on the General Practitioner's Committee of the BMA for the past six years. In that capacity she is on the GPC's IM&T subcommittee, the joint GP IT committee and is deputy chair of the BMA's IT committee, who will share the GP leader role

For further information contact Katherine Guerin/Sean Edmunds, National Programme for IT email pressoffice@npfit.nhs.uk.

Notes to Editors

1. Alan Burns was born in Dunfermline and educated in Edinburgh; he has spent almost 20 years as a health authority chief executive. He worked for eight years in Dublin managing teaching hospitals before moving in 1985 to be district general manager at Peterborough Health Authority and in 1999, chief executive of Cambridgeshire Health Authority. He has been chief executive of Trent Strategic Health Authority since 2002.

2. The National Programme for IT is an essential element in delivering the NHS Plan. It will create a multi-billion pound information infrastructure, which will improve patient care by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of clinicians and other NHS staff. It will do this by:
- creating an NHS Care Records Service to improve the sharing of consenting patients' records across the NHS
- making it easier and faster for GPs and other primary care staff to book hospital appointments for patients
- providing a system for electronic transmission of prescriptions - ensuring that the IT infrastructure can meet NHS needs now and in the future

3. An allied health professional leader is expected to be announced shortly. The national clinical champion posts will be replicated at cluster, SHA and Local Health Community creating a strong communication chain.

4. For further information on the National Programme see www.npfit.nhs.uk

National clinical champion biographies

Ian Scott
Ian Scott is the Medical Director and Director of Information at the The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and chairs the East Suffolk NPfIT Implementation Board.

He was appointed as Consultant Surgeon in 1984, and spends 50% of his time as a colo-rectal surgeon at the present time.

He was the clinical lead for the Resource Management Initiative in Ipswich and went on to be lead clinician for the PAS and Order Communication installation in 1987. Since that time, he has been the clinical lead for Information, becoming Director for information when the hospital became a Trust in 1993.

He was a founding member of the Association of Trust Medical Directors and chaired that group for four years. He is a Board member of the British Association of Medical Managers.

Dr Simon Eccles
Simon qualified from the London Hospital Medical College in 1994. He undertook a wide variety of posts at SHO level and is now a final year SpR in Accident and Emergency Medicine. Simon Eccles is joint editor of the best selling careers guide 'So you want to be a brain surgeon'. He is also Chairman of the Junior Doctors Committee of the BMA, working with the Department of Health on the introduction of the European Working Time Directive as well as the Modernising Medical Careers proposals.

Until October, he took a year out of clinical work to allow him to work on the 'Hospital at Night' project as the medical advisor. This has now been expanded nationally. Through this work and his BMA activities he has a clear understanding of the need for ordinary doctors to be more involved in the provision of high quality Information Technology and the changes in practice which this will allow.

Simon is 33 years old and lives in East London.

Heather Drabble OBE
Heather is currently the Chief Nurse for the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which is one of the largest Foundation Trust in the country with over 2,000 beds and 12,000 staff.

Heather was previously Chief Nurse at the Northern General Hospital NHS Trust, Sheffield having been Executive Director of Nursing and Quality at Stockport Acute Services NHS Trust prior to that. Her portfolio of responsibilities is broad including patient and public involvement, professional and practice development and recently was Lead Director in taking the Trust to Foundation Trust status.

Throughout her clinical and managerial career Heather has had a strong focus on patient empowerment, improving services and leadership development.

Heather was appointed by the Secretary of State to the Modernisation Board which advises upon and oversees the implementation of the NHS Plan. Previous to this she served as a member of one of the Modernisation Action Teams and the Commission for Health Improvement Advisory Board.

She also contributes to a number of national groups considering professional and educational issues.

Heather was honoured by the Queen in 2002 for her services to Nursing.

Professor Mike Pringle
Mike has been a general practitioner for 26 years and since April 2004 has been a sessional doctor in the Collingham Medical Centre practice. He is Professor of General Practice in the University of Nottingham where he also heads up the School of Community Health Sciences. In the past he has chaired the Joint Computing Group of the RCGP/GPC, been Chairman of the RCGP and was co-chair of the diabetes NSF. Currently he is an elected member of the General Medical Council (GMC), Strategic Director of PRIMIS, director of QRESEARCH (a joint enterprise between the University of Nottingham and EMIS), non-executive board member of UK Biobank, and Learning Champion in the Collingham Healthcare Education Centre (CHEC)

Dr Gillian Braunold
Dr Gillian Braunold is a general practitioner in Kilburn where she was a longstanding vocational trainer. She has been active in the local LMC for many years (and is currently Chair) and has been on the General Practitioner's Committee (GPC) of the BMA for 6 years. In that capacity she is on GPC's IM&T subcommittee and the Joint GP IT Committee of the RCGP and GPC, and is Deputy Chair of the BMA's IT Committee. She chairs the Medical Informatics Group in the NHS Information Authority. She is a performance assessor for the GMC.

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