Government to localise NPfIT

A Department of Health review of the programme has concluded that a "more locally-led plural system of procurement should operate, whilst continuing with national applications already procured". In a statement to Parliament on 9 September 2010 Burns said that new the savings, plus £600m already announced under Labour, will cut the total cost of NPfIT from the original forecast of £12.7bn for combined central and local spending to £11.4bn. He added that the new structures will be fully in place by April 2012 and that some elements will continue to be managed nationally. Existing contracts will be honoured, however. "The new approach to implementation will be modular and allow NHS organisations to introduce smaller, more manageable change, in line with their business requirements and capacity," he said. Burns also suggested there has been too much focus on complete system replacement and that the new approach will allow NHS trusts to "retain existing systems that meet modern standards and move forward in a way that best fits their own circumstances. "NHS services will be the customers of a more plural IT supplier base, embodying the core assumption of connecting all systems together rather than replacing all systems. "This approach will also address the delays, particularly in the acute sector, that resulted from the national programme's previous focus on complete system replacement. It will allow NHS trusts to retain existing systems that meet modern standards, and move forward in a way that best fits their own circumstances." Christine Connelly, director general for informatics acknowledged that the NPfIT had delivered important reforms, but said: "Now the NHS is changing, we need to change the way IT supports those changes, bringing decisions closer to the front line and ensuring that change is manageable and holds less risk for NHS organisations." The Department of Health said that CSC's contracts as local service provider to the north, Midlands and east of England will provided an estimated £500m of the £1.3bn in total savings announced in both December 2009 and September 2010, although this is still being negotiated with the company The new £700m reduction consists of around £200m from the CSC contracts, with the rest being made up of a £500m reduction in local costs. A departmental spokesperson said that this was based on new, detailed estimates from strategic health authorities on the local spending required, rather than specific cuts. BT had already announced £112m in reductions from its local service provider costs in London, through reducing the scope of the work, and the rest of the savings from December came from £200m in cuts to back office work. Simon Burns also revealed that the outcome of a separate review of the summary care record is expected by the end of September. Earlier this week SmartHealthcare.com reported that Connecting for Health paid BT £257m more than CSC for services in 2009-10. BT takes 43% of CfH spending Profiles of the largest 20 suppliers to Connecting for Health List of the top 100 suppliers to Connecting for Health