Interview: Lynne Maher

Lynne Maher can see the NHS entering a new phase in its development of IT. National programmes are becoming less of an issue, and there will be a stronger emphasis on new ideas coming from the ground up. As director of innovation and design at the NHS National Innovation Centre she is not an IT specialist but has a wide brief that includes technology; the institute's work has included projects on open source software and diagnostic IT, and at the time of writing its website's front page includes a link to a submission on the NHS IT platform. She believes that the running down of the National Programme for IT and the government's reorganisation of the health service are creating a new landscape.

"I think we will see less of national IT programmes, and will see more growth on the frontline," she says, explaining that open source technology can play a significant part in the movement. "I think people can develop IT solutions that fit their local context. That's really important because local health communities in Hampshire and Newcastle have different needs and healthcare provision in those areas needs to be different. Open source will enable people to develop for their own context." It's part of a change in which the focus is now on local rather than national control, and the challenge is to ensure that the good ideas to emerge at local level are put into practice on a wider scale...