Health sector IT managers will have to wait to find out if the government’s review of the NHS will affect the £12bn National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

Prime minister Gordon Brown last week announced a wide-ranging review into how the NHS will meet the challenges of delivering healthcare in the next decade, including the provision of joined-up services and integrated care.

The Department of Health (DoH) says it is too early to say if the review will include the NPfIT.

But experts say it is inevitable that aspects of the project will come under scrutiny.

British Medical Association spokesman Dr Richard Vautrey says NPfIT is a central plank of the NHS, and the review presents an opportunity to re-prioritise and concentrate on some quick wins.

‘With the change in government, now would be a sensible time to review the original objectives of the NPfIT,’ he said.

A wider NHS review will not be able to ignore the effects of the NPfIT, says Ovum senior health analyst Tola Sargeant. But a high-level review of the provision of healthcare in the UK will mean less focus on the NPfIT, she says.