NHS Connecting for Health, the government agency supporting the NHS to introduce computer systems and services as part of England’s National Programme for IT, is to sponsor two categories in the BT e-Health Insider Awards, it was announced today.

Categories for Primary Care ICT Team of the Year and Acute Care ICT Team of the Year will be supported by the agency and awarded to winners at a ceremony in London in November.

E-Health Insider director in charge of the awards, Linda Davidson said, “It’s great news that NHS Connecting for Health has decided to lend its weight to the BT e-Health Insider Awards which recognise and reward excellent work in healthcare IT.”

The closing date for the awards has been extended to 9 July 2007 to give entrants more time to prepare their submissions. There are five categories open to healthcare organisations around the UK.

• Primary Care ICT Team of the Year, sponsored by NHS Connecting for Health

• Acute Care ICT Team of the Year, sponsored by NHS Connecting for Health

• Community and Mental Health Care ICT Team of the Year, sponsored by McKesson

• Excellence in Health Information Management Award, sponsored by Quicksilva

• Healthcare Business ICT Support Team of the Year, sponsored by Olympus.

There’s also a readers’ award for the person judged to be the Healthcare ICT Champion of 2007, sponsored by Microsoft. The extended closing date is 9 July 2007 – so there are just a few days left to get your entry in. Visit our website for full details.