SHAs must plan local IT expenditure, guidance says

The Department of Health has published guidance to strategic health authorities on how to produce plans for local IT expenditure from 2007, as part of the move to local ownership of IT strategy. Plans must be produced and submitted by the end of March.

The new guidance follows the publication last December of the NHS Operating Framework for 2007/08, which set the requirement for NHS organisations to create a comprehensive IM&T plan which is core to their business.

From 2007/08 onwards, Information Management and Technology (IM&T) investment and exploitation will form part of mainstream NHS planning in support of health and service priorities and reform, the DH has announced in its new guidance on preparation of local IM&T plans.

The new guidance lays out four key planning objectives for trust chief executives to put into place over the next 12 months.

1. An IM&T spending projection for 2007/08 should be submitted as part of financial plans by early in March 2007.

2. NPfIT commitments for 2007/08 should be agreed with SHAs and entered in the National Programme Office database by end March 2007.

3. Local IM&T plans, incorporating NPfIT commitments and reflecting national expectations, should be complete and quality assured by PCTs and SHAs by end March 2007.

4. By June 2007, SHAs and DH will jointly review the content of IM&T plans, identifying priorities and gaps. This dialogue will inform the development of national IM&T strategy, the next round of planning and the future products offered by the National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

The guidance says that trusts should prepare to ensure that their local systems meet the necessary requirements: “With the shift to a self-improving system, the accent is on local ownership and leadership driving a local IM&T agenda which also meets a defined set of national expectations and exploits the NPfIT.”

It goes onto say that trusts should make sure that they keep enough funding aside to deploy all the necessary IM&T systems.

The guidance states: “The goal for 2011 is that IM&T in the NHS will enable the safe and seamless delivery of patient care across organisational boundaries. This requires each NHS organisation to plan for sustained IM&T investment that achieves a common set of functions and national integration standards. While initial local plans may be imperfect, it is crucial that the NHS starts to address this goal.

To meet this challenge the guidance says: "Chief executives of all NHS organisations should actively build the IM&T and service transformation capacity and capability required to deliver this modern, IT-enabled NHS. We will support the NHS by providing tools and services to assess and develop local IM&T capability."

The guidance includes a checklist is included, designed to help NHS organisations assure themselves that their local IM&T plans meet national expectations and "exploit the solutions" available under the NPfIT contracts.

Plans from local NHS organisations will be required to show how both local and national priorities will be achieved including: implementation of GP Systems of Choice; preparing for the Summary Care Record; the completion of Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) rollout; implementation and benefits realisation for the Electronic Prescriptions Service and further exploitation of e-booking – as stated in the Operating Framework in December.

Under the plans, primary care trusts, as commissioners, will have their own comprehensive IM&T plan and work with all providers in their local health communities to align IM&T plans and enable patient-centred service transformation and strategic health authorities will be charged with assuring that the local NHS has the capability and resources to deliver their plans.

Links

Guidance on preparation of local IM&T plans