Supplier ditched from £6bn NHS IT programme

A key supplier has been dropped from the £6bn NHS Connecting for Health IT modernisation programme over a failure to meet strict implementation deadlines.

After weeks of rumour and speculation, sub-contractor IDX Systems has been ditched from the main electronic patient record contract for the south of England by main service provider Fujitsu Services.

The Department of Health has been notified and agreed to a proposal from Fujitsu to replace IDX with its larger US rival Cerner.

IDX said it had been contracted to work with London prime contractor BT to provide a "common solution" to Fujitsu that would be implemented in the southern region and London.

Fujitsu will now use Cerner's Millenium product for the southern region but IDX has been retained by BT to provide its Carecast software for the electronic patient record system in London.

The IDX contract with Fujitsu is estimated to have been worth £100m over 10 years.

James H Crook Jr, CEO of IDX, said Fujitsu's decision to switch to Cerner is "disappointing".

He said in a statement: "We believe that, together with our prime contractor BT, we have overcome numerous obstacles in delivering on the national programme, which is unprecedented in scale, complexity and schedule, and will ultimately deliver real benefits to patients, care givers and NHS staff."

Connecting for Health said it is confident there will be no delays as a result of the switch and that it will allow BT and IDX to "redouble" their efforts in London.

Tola Sargeant, analyst at Ovum, said in a briefing note that while the news is not surprising the decision by BT to stick with IDS will "raise a few eyebrows".

She continued: "If BT and IDX are pushing ahead with the task of developing and deploying Carecast in London, does it make sense for Fujitsu to throw in the towel and start again with a new partner, especially since Cerner will face many of the same challenges that IDX has had to overcome as it adapts its software for a national programme in the UK."