NHS Information Authority


NHS Information Authority

A non-departmental public (arm’s length) body established by an Act of Parliament in 1999 to deliver IT infrastructure and data solutions to the NHS. During its brief tenure, it created NHSnet (which became N3), the Exeter software suite, and NHS Mail. The NHSIA oversaw delivery of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification to NHS staff and hosted the 2002 rollout of the highly unsuccessful National Programme for IT (NPfIT). As part of a sweeping 2004 initiative to cut costs, central Government targeted a group of arm’s length bodies, including the NHSIA, whose work was passed to the National Programme for IT, which became an executive agency (NHS Connecting for Health) and a newly created Information Centre for Health and Social Care.