NHS Information Authority
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The NHS Information Authority (NHSIA) was part of the UK National Health Service (NHS). It was established by an Act of Parliament in 1999. With headquarters in Birmingham, UK, its aim was to bring together four NHS IT and Information bodies (NHS Telecoms, FHS, NHS CCC and NHS IMG) to work together to deliver IT infrastructure and information solutions to the NHS in England. Among its products and services were NHSNet, the NHS-wide private computer network enabling NHS bodies to communicate securely, the Exeter system, a suite of computer programs used by Health Authorities for many purposes, NHS Numbers for Babies ("NN4B"), and NHS Mail, the original NHS wide e-mail service (replaced by the current service Contact).
In 2002, the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) was announced by the Department of Health, initially to work with the NHSIA to deliver the Healthcare IT for the 21st Century white paper. The programme was hosted by the NHSIA. In 2004, it was announced that as part of an initiative to cut costs and numbers of Arms Length Bodies (ALB's), the NHSIA would be abolished and its work would be divided between the National Programme for IT, which would become an Executive Agency in its own right as NHS Connecting for Health, and a newly created Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Prior to its closure, the NHSIA was also responsible for overseeing the delivery of the ECDL ("European Computer Driving Licence") qualification to NHS staff via a network of local, internal ECDL test centres.
