We have been invited by the Department of Health to seek PCT Network members to participate in a new Primary Care Informatics Board. The board will be convened by the Department of Health, led by the Primary Care branch and the Informatics Directorate.
The role of the board
In addition to representatives from the Department, Connecting for Health and the Information Centre, the board will bring together GPs, particularly in a commissioning role. 
There will also be representatives from PCTs, SHAs as well as other key stakeholders. The aim of the board is to take a strategic view of the key informatics issues in primary care. In particular this would be to consider how information technology can best support the commissioning and delivery of high quality primary care. The board will also look at the appropriate strategy to deliver this and to make the links between providers of clinical services and the relevant agencies responsible for IT delivery in the NHS. The board will not attempt to develop solutions to issues that are raised. The role of the board will be to ensure the appropriate relationships and expectations are in place to facilitate this.
The Department of Health would like to hold the first meeting of this new board in July. Further information will be available to those who are keen to consider joining this group.
For further information
If you are a PCT Network member and would like to participate in this board, please contact the Department of Health directly.
The main contact at the Department of Health for the development of this board is Gareth James, Policy Manager, Local Commissioning for Primary Medical Care and GP Patient Survey, Commissioning and System Management Directorate.
Gareth can be contacted at gareth.james@dh.gsi.gov.uk or 0113 254 61 11.