A wide range of stakeholders have an interest or involvement in the progress of the Offender Health IT programme.

During the roll-out of the national clinical IT system for prisons, the programme established a National Stakeholder Group (NSG) which included representatives from a wide range of organisations, including: strategic health authorities, primary care trusts, the National Offender Management Service, the Department of Health, professional bodies and the voluntary sector.

Many of the NSG's members were active clinical professionals working in a range of services relevant to prison health, including general practice, nursing, mental health in-reach and pharmacy.

Following the end of the roll-out, the programme's stakeholder engagement approach was reviewed. A National Stakeholder Forum was established which contains many of the individuals and bodies involved previously, but also representatives from other parts of the criminal justice system. The forum is an important part of the programme's governance structure and meets on a quarterly basis.

The forum's role is to:

• Act as a sounding board, helping the programme understand how healthcare IT might support healthcare business processes within the criminal justice system.
• Ensure the wider stakeholder community are made aware of the context, challenges and opportunities associated with delivering healthcare IT and wider informatics to healthcare establishments across the criminal justice system.
• Provide guidance and advice as an input into programme decision-making.
• Ensure the programme is kept abreast of cross-Government policy developments and other initiatives that may impact on the work of the programme.