The National Health Service Executive (NHS Executive) was part of the British Department of Health established in 1996. It advised Ministers on the development of NHS policy and was responsible for the effective management of the NHS. The Executive ceased to exist on 1 April 2002 when 4 Regional Directorates of Health and Social Care were established and the central functions were reabsorbed into the Department of Health.[1] The Regional Directorates were abolished in 2003.[2]
The functions of the NHS Executive were provided through the Headquarters (mainly in Leeds and London) and eight regional offices which replaced the former regional health authorities. The Information Management Group (IMG) was part of the NHS Executive made up jointly of civil servants and NHS staff. The IMG formed part of the Human and Corporate Resources Directorate, represented on the NHS Executive Board by Ken Jarrold. Their aim was to improve the ability of the NHS to harness and benefit from the management of information and the use of information technology. One of their key objectives was to promote and implement the NHS Executive's national Information Management and Technology (IM&T) Strategy. The IMG worked with other parts of the NHS Executive and the wider Department of Health to identify and secure the information technology implications of national policy initiatives.
