Wessex health authority chairman quits: Resignation comes amid controversy over computer contract losses of up to pounds 63m. Judy Jones reports

THE CHAIRMAN of the beleaguered Wessex regional health authority resigned yesterday amid controversy over computer contract losses of up to pounds 63m.

Sir Robin Buchanan, whose stewardship of the authority's finances is under investigation by the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said he was relinquishing the post to concentrate on his other job as chairman of the NHS Supplies Authority.

Labour MPs last night expressed dismay that Sir Robin, a prominent Conservative Party activist in the early 1980s, has not also stepped down from the supplies authority, which has an annual turnover of pounds 4bn.

The cross-party accounts committee inquiry was launched in the wake of an investigation by the Independent and Computer Weekly which unearthed two confidential district auditor reports castigating the management of the Wessex authority.

The district auditors singled out the negotiation of a contract for provision of computer services that guaranteed the contractor a profit of 15 per cent above cost, regardless of performance. In evidence to the public accounts committee in May this year, Sir Robin said that problems with the computer contract predated his appointment to the chairmanship of Wessex on 1 August 1988. But a memorandum dated 12 September 1988, and disclosed by the Independent in June this year, showed that Sir Robin was party to finalising the terms of the agreement. The Public Accounts Committee inquiry is expected to report in the autumn.

David Blunkett, Labour's health spokesman, was astonished last night that Virginia Bottomley, Secretary of State for Health, had reappointed Sir Robin to the chairmanship of the NHS Supplies Authority for a further two years. 'Nobody with Sir Robin's record should be in charge of such an important procurement agency.' Referring to the resignation this year of the West Midlands regional health authority chairman - another prominent Conservative - in the wake of pounds 4m losses over mismanaged contracts, Mr Blunkett went on: 'Sir James Ackers left that authority . . . after what everyone recognised to be the most disastrous period in that authority's history. The same can be said of Sir Robin's tenure of Wessex. Political appointments of ex-Tory councillors do nothing to restore confidence in the probity and accountability of the NHS.'

In a letter to Sir Robin yesterday, Mrs Bottomley is understood to have made no mention of the computer contract losses, expressing instead her appreciation for his 'very significant contribution . . . during a difficult and demanding period.' It continued: 'Under your chairmanship waiting lists have dramatically fallen, and your region was among the first to report that no patients were waiting more than 18 months for hip or knee replacements.'

As chairman of the NHS Supplies Authority Sir Robin earns pounds 20,925 - the same salary he received for chairing Wessex. In his letter to the Secretary of State, he wrote: 'In order to lead the NHS Supplies Authority at a challenging moment in its development, I feel it would be correct for me to relinquish my responsibilities as chairman of Wessex RHA as soon as a suitable successor can be found.'

Sir Robin, 63, was yesterday not available for comment. He was playing in a golf match in Cornwall, a health authority spokesman said.

(Photograph omitted)