The official overseeing the initiative, projected to cost $24 billion—double the original estimate—said he was considering offers in the private sector.In the wake of Tony Blair's upcoming resignation on June 27, Richard Granger, who has been in charge of NHS Connecting for Health, announced he would resign in the next few months.
NHS Connecting for Health is the unit overseeing the National Program for Information Technology (NPfIT), a sweeping effort to transform the British health-care system with I.T.
Blair was the backer of the project, which was developed to provide detailed electronic records for every patient in Britain's National Health Service.
NPfIT is the biggest non-military I.T. project ever. Originally budgeted at $12 billion in 2002, the total cost of the electronic record system, which is more than two years late, was projected at the end of last year to be closer to $24 billion.
Granger's resignation came as surprise. He has frequently lashed out at "whining" critics and only last week gave an interview in which he said he was eager to steer to project to "calmer waters."
In announcing his resignation, Granger said he was considering offers in the private sector. At NHS, he was the highest paid civil servant in Britain, earning in excess of $500,000 (£253,000).
Baseline ran a detailed story of the NHS project and its problems, "U.K. Dept. of Health: Prescription for Disaster?" in its November 2006 issue.
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