David Kwo, who was suspended from his post as Connecting for Health’s regional implementation director (RID) for London on 15 April, resigned this week and issued a statement to E-Health Insider.
He said: "I would just like to clarify that my resignation from my post as Connecting for Health’s Regional Implementation Director (RID) for London was caused by a contractual dispute between myself and my health authority, the South East London Strategic Health Authority. The statutory grievance procedure is presently being pursued by me against the health authority in the hope that litigation can be avoided."
Kwo thanked the health authority chief executive [Dr Michael Walsh] for acknowledging, when he accepted his resignation the important role he had played in establishing the NHS Connecting for Health London Cluster and his contribution to the cluster’s achievements over the last two years.
He added: "London Cluster remains one of the leading clusters in terms of early Connecting for Health deployments in Choose and Book, PACS and GP systems and is positioned to achieve its world-beating vision of a single integrated clinical system solution for London.
"I would also like to say that I believe that Connecting for Health is a vitally important programme that will result in major improvements in healthcare and I wish it, and all my former colleagues there, every success.
"I am afraid that this is all I feel able to say at this time, given my wholehearted support for the programme and the sensitivities around the outstanding statutory grievance procedure against the health authority."
A statement issued earlier this week from Connecting for Health said that Kwo’s resignation letter did not make mention of his recent suspension from duty.
"This suspension was enacted to enable proper investigations into a serious allegation regarding David. Suspension is not a judgement but a precautionary measure to ensure that an appropriate and fair investigation can take place. The investigation will continue until a conclusion is reached regarding the allegation," the statement said.
Martyn Forrest, regional implementation director for the North East cluster, will continue to act as regional implementation director for London. Connecting for Health said the recruitment for a replacement for Kwo had started.
Kwo moved to the London post after a successful period as director of IT for the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, West London, one of the few sites to reach targets for implementing electronic patient records on time under the arrangements that preceeded Connecting for Health’s work.