The Department for Work and Pensions has renewed a
contract with IT services company Atos Origin to deliver medical
advice and assessment services in a deal worth £500m over seven
years.
Under the contract, Atos Origin will manage the provision of
medical advice and assessments on behalf of the DWP for incapacity
benefits, industrial injuries disablement benefits, disability
living allowances and other benefits. It will also provide services
to the Ministry of Defence Veterans Agency.
The contract can be extended by a maximum of five years under
two separate extension clauses: the first for three years and the
second for two years. These take the potential total contract value
to more than £850m over 12 years.
Through technology and process transformation, Atos Origin said
it aimed to reduce end-to-end processing times and extend the scope
and deployment of its evidence-based medicine programme.
The company said it would further develop medical protocols
using the latest clinical research and the best practice of
clinical governance. It also plans to upgrade the DWP's IT
infrastructure and enhance the logic-integrated medical assessments
system, which supports doctors during the assessment process and
produces electronic reports.
Atos Origin said it would continue to focus on the recruitment,
training and career development of its medical staff to ensure that
it retained and attracted professionals with the qualifications,
experience and skills needed to carry out such assessments.