
But both sides say everything's still rosy
By Ron Coates
Published: 4 June 2004 15:40 BST
BT is to cough up a rumoured six-figure sum for missing a deadline on one of its core £2.15bn NHS contracts.
But both sides, BT and the National Programme for IT (NOfIT), say the project's still going well.
Yesterday NHS IT supremo Richard Granger revealed at a press conference that BT had missed a couple of deadlines and that it would be paying an undisclosed six-figure sum to account for it.
He emphasised two other things as well: first, how tight and how tough the contracts for the projects are; and second, how well the project is going and how well the NHS is getting along with its contractors in what Granger said he hoped would be effective long-term relationships with suppliers who perform.
An NPfIT statement confirmed that BT had missed two of 56 milestones in the first phase of the rollout of a broadband infrastructure and that BT was being asked to pay an "appropriate sum in compensation".
BT admitted there had been a delay and said it was in discussions with the NHS over any recompense that would cover additional costs occurring due to the delay. It added that everything was now fixed and that relations with the NHS were good.
The NPfIT seconded that and said that BT "continues to work constructively with the NHS to deploy broadband connectivity".
A research note issued by analyst house Ovum said: "This certainly wasn't the news that either Richard Granger or BT would have liked to be discussing at this early stage of the NPfIT contracts.
"On a programme of this scale and complexity, with a tight implementation schedule, there are bound to be further problems and delays (as Granger himself said yesterday). Frankly we'd be surprised if this is the last time that the NPfIT is due damages from one of its many suppliers."
Knowledge of accounting principles and practices * Understanding of the application of Prince 2 project methodology * Previous participation in ...
Under pinning Contracts and associated business case(s) with the relevant IT Supplier(s) delivering IT Service to Global B2B Main Accountabilities - ...
BT Local Business, not BT, and are therefore subject to BT Local Business terms and contracts. IT Manager Sales Specialist (Sales) - North East - ...
CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector. The list was voted on by the UK CIO community and a panel of experts. Find out more in our latest special report.
Stories from the web...
Copyright ©1995-2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Top of page
Jeremy Hore Beijing Olympics diary: Testing times… But what hurdles remain?
Naked CIO The Naked CIO: Going public about privacy What have we got to hide?