BT negotiates for NHS IT work contract

BT is currently negotiating with the National Health Service (NHS) about the possibility of the telecoms giant assuming the workload of Fujitsu.

A replacement is currently being sought for the Japanese IT outsourcing contractor, which has left the £12 billion computer programme.

The abrupt departure of Fujitsu from the £996 billion NHS contract means that a company is needed urgently to take over its responsibilities and Ovum analyst Tola Sargeant claims that the IT programme has been "left in limbo".

ContractorUK reports that CSC is also being considered for the contract to deliver electronic patient records to the south of England, which will be awarded over the next few months, Gordon Hextall, a director of Connecting for Health told a House of Commons committee last month.

A total of eight trusts in the south are currently live with Cerner Millennium provided by Fujitsu and BT has confirmed that it is talks about a possible takeover deal, which could also include Bath if it goes live.

Local service provider Fujitsu walked away from contract re-negotiations on May 28th this year, leaving the Cerner Millennium Care Records Service (CRS) software unsupported.

Up to 700 people working on the contract could be made redundant by Fujitsu as a result of its departure from the contract and the company is now required to return £67 million in fees, union leaders report.