New NHS IT minister named

The National Health Service's (NHS) embattled IT programme has a new ministerial lead, the Department of Health (DoH) has announced.

Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter, takes over the Connecting for Health programme from Lord Philip Hunt, who was moved to the Ministry of Justice last month.

Bradshaw has been with the DoH for just one month, and was previously a minister with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and held roles in the Privy Council Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Before being elected in 1997 with Labour, Bradshaw was a BBC correspondent.

He will also be in charge of NHS finances and efficiency, as well as the South West and London Strategic Health Authorities.