Information is a Board Issue says NHS Chief

NHS chief executive, Nigel Crisp, has issued a firm reminder to chairs and chief executives that data quality is their responsibility.

In the latest Chief Executive’s Bulletin, Mr Crisp, writes, “Data quality is an issue for NHS boards and senior managers. It is not something to be left solely to information specialists.”

He refers to the recent management paper from the Audit Commission, Data Remember which pointed out the potential for NHS organisational changes to destabilise arrangements for handling data and pointed to the need for urgent improvements in basic processes for managing data.

A spokesman for the NHS Confederation said, "The confederation has been working with its members to raise the profile of information to ensure that it’s appropriately discussed at board level and not seen as a technical issue dealt with by IT specialists. We are starting to see chief executives and chairs engaging in the information debate."