Business
U.K. health IT chief resigns
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 9, 2007
Amid calls for a full-on investigation into the United Kingdom's delayed national program for health IT, called Connecting for Health, under way by the National Health Service, the project's chief executive, Richard Granger, has resigned.
Granger was reportedly the U.K.'s highest paid civil servant
The plan, which started in 2002 and is nowhere near completion, has become very unpopular in the U.K. It has been plagued by missed deadlines, vendors pulling out and physicians complaining that they were not informed as to how the program would be implemented. The plan initially was budgeted at $11 billion, but recent reports show a current price tag of $24.6 billion.
In a prepared statement, Granger said his last day would be in October and that his departure is consistent with his initial commitment of five years.
He also acknowledged "a number of challenges ahead, but I firmly believe that the leadership of the programme by Lord Hunt, David Nicholson and my colleagues within NHS CFH will ensure these hurdles are overcome."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/07/09/bibf0709.htm.
