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Former Shell PR man to tackle NHS project |
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Patrick Barrett
11.30am Friday April 30, 2004
The Department of Health has appointed Shell's former head of global media relations to handle PR for one of the most controversial NHS projects of recent years.
James Herbert has taken on the role of director of communications for the NHS's ?6bn National Programme for IT, an ambitious project designed to revolutionise the flow of information around the health service.
Mr Herbert will report directly to Richard Granger, the country's highest paid civil servant who has been charged with driving through the massive procurement programme of computers and IT systems.
However, his role will be complicated by the fractious relations that have developed between the department and some elements of the press.
The project has been contentious not merely because of doubts about the NHS ability to create a viable and seamless system used by the entire service, but because of the secrecy surrounding the project.
Mr Granger, who is under consideration for the post of head of e-government, has been criticised for excluding elements of the press from briefings about the project.
He also came into conflict with respected IT journalist Tony Collins, who reports for industry magazine Computer Weekly.
Collins was accused by Mr Granger and PR firm Good Relations, which was hired to handle press relations for the project, of breaching a confidence by reporting doubts about the IT programme voiced by delegates at a conference, which was later demonstrated to be a public event.
Letters accusing Collins of the breach were published on the NHS IT website, prompting legal threats from lawyers for Reed Business Information, which owns Computer Weekly.
"As far as I know it's the first time a publication has been defamed by a government department," said Collins.
more @http://media.guardian.co.uk/marketingandpr/story/0,7494,1207002,00.html |
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