NHS re-tenders terminated £90m EDS deal

The NHS is looking to slash the cost of its central secure email and directory service (EMDS) after controversially ditching EDS from the £90m contract last month.

In a pre-tender document put out yesterday, the Department of Health stated that the estimated value of the new nine-year contract ranges from £90m to as low as £50m, which would represent a significant saving on the terminated deal.

The short-term task for the winning supplier will be to provide service continuity for users of the current system, which is based on a Sun messaging platform.

The main task will be to migrate users to a new EMDS that can handle a potential 1.2 million users and integrate with the £2.3bn National Programme applications and services where required.

As well as managed email facilities and directory services, virus blocking, spam protection and encryption, there will also need to be the capability to add other related services such as public key infrastructure.

The NHS has gone to mediation in its dispute with EDS after it terminated the contract last month citing "ongoing concerns" and "unacceptable delays". EDS stands to recoup some £11m in development costs if it wins the mediation case.