Hospital executives have put plans to replacelegacy systemson hold after
protracted negotiations between the NHS and Fujitsu, its main IT
supplier in southern England.
Computer Weekly has learnt that several trusts have delayed
plans for new systems under the NHS's
National Programme for IT (NPfIT). Although training of staff
in the systems has continued in some areas, some trusts have been
unable to set go-live dates.
Fujitsu and the NHS have been negotiating for more than nine
months on a "contract reset" to allow for changes in the NPfIT
since the 10-year, £896m deal was signed in January 2004.
A memorandum of understanding, which allowed the NHS and Fujitsu
to operate as if a revised contract were in place, expired on 31
January, and the two sides have reverted to the original deal.
The renegotiation of parts of the contract has involved
secretary of state for health Alan Johnson and Fujitsu's parent
organisation in Japan.
Talks on the reset were due to finish last November. They were
then expected to be complete by the end of March, but there is
still no word on whether a deal has been agreed.
Officials working on the NPfIT had announced in 2006 that St
Richard's Hospital in West Sussex would go live with an NPfIT care
records service in October of that year. But the Royal West Sussex
NHS trust confirmed last week that it had been unable to set a date
for implementation. The contract reset was one of the
uncertainties.
The trust's board also wants to learn from a go-live of the
Cerner Millennium care records service at Worthing Hospital, where
it said there had been "issues concerning functionality".
The board of the Southern Programme for IT - part of the NPfIT -
has reported that, "The operating plan for the delivery of the care
record service deployments for 2008 is being reviewed to take
account of local deployment verification and detailed planning, and
the current position on contract reset."
NHS Connecting for Health, which runs part of the NPfIT, and
Fujitsu declined to comment on the contract reset.
Read more on the NHS on Tony Collins' IT projects blog.