East Sussex healthcare trust leads major software deal

East Sussex is leading a partnership that will see five NHS trusts buying imaging and archiving software from the same supplier. The group have published a tender, worth up to £20m, for the software as well as supply and hosting of domain based systems for data sharing. East Sussex is procuring the software on behalf of itself and four other trusts: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, Western Sussex Hospitals, Surrey and Sussex healthcare trust and Queen Victoria Hospital. The deal will cover the supply of a radiology information system (Ris), a picture archiving and communication system (Pacs), a vendor neutral archiving (Vna), a cardiology imaging system and related services. According to a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union, the five trusts have established a Sussex Pacs Ris replacement programme to oversee the procurement. Sussex Health Informatics Service, an NHS organisation, is also helping the trusts with the deal. The five trusts plan to sign individual contracts with the chosen supplier for the image and archiving software, and each of the trusts will need board approval of a full business case and award decision before signing a deal. "It is possible that other NHS trusts may wish to join this collaborative procurement, although they will only be able to do so with the approval of the Sussex Pacs Ris replacement programme board (in any event, those trusts would be limited to south east England)," the notice said. The notice also advises suppliers to be mindful that some of the five trusts may require an image and archiving solution which is locally hosted by the trust, whereas others may require it to be provided as a managed service. This article is published by Guardian Professional. Join the Guardian Healthcare Network to receive regular emails on NHS innovation.