SchlumbergerSema has snared thefirst
contract in the £2.3bn NHS IT programme, for a national electronic
bookings system.
The system will allow doctors and patients to
book initial hospital appointments electronically and is a crucial
step in redesigning the NHS around patient needs, according to
health secretary John Reid.
The £64.5m, five-year contract is for the
provision of core services, with options to extend the deal and the
services provided.
New software will rolled out to more than
30,000 GPs connecting them to 270 hospitals. The first electronic
bookings are scheduled for summer 2004 and the project is due to
complete by the end of 2005.
Some doctors have questioned whether the NHS
has the capacity to offer the sort of flexibility that ministers
expect of the new system.
Richard Granger, director general of NHS IT,
was confident that it would make a real difference. "The electronic
booking programme will bring substantial benefits to patients and
to people working in the NHS."
He added that the contract will provide
"significant protection to the NHS with regard to delivery and
performance. A high degree of assurance is in place regarding
confidentiality".
Last week, the national programme for NHS IT
pushed back the date it expected to award key Local Service
Provider contracts for London and the North East from 31 October to
21 November.