NHS names top tech tag team

The Department of Health has named the new leadership team that will direct the future of the NHS National Programme for IT.

The NHS announced in April that it would split the old NHS IT director general role in two following the departure of the previous holder of the post, Richard Granger, at the beginning of the year.

Christine Connelly will become CIO for Health, focusing on developing and delivering the overall information strategy for the Department of Health.

She'll work with various NHS leaders and bodies including NHS Connecting for Health, the body which runs the National Programme for IT.

Martin Bellamy will lead NHS Connecting for Health as the new director of programme and system delivery and will look at how to improve partner relationships.

This follows a "strategic refocusing" of the Department of Health and NHS to make better use of information across the organisations.

NHS chief executive, David Nicholson, said the two appointments will bring invaluable skills and experience for rolling out new and innovative systems across the NHS.

He added, the creation of these roles "enhances both the strategic management of information in the health and social care system and the delivery of NHS Connecting for Health".

Christine Connelly was previously CIO at Cadbury Schweppes and spent more than 20 years at BP where she became head of IT.

Martin Bellamy previously worked for the Department of Work and Pensions holding the CIO position for the Pension Service.

The duo will start their new roles on 22 September.