BT to compensate NPfIT for missed N3 targets

A spokesperson for the NPfIT said: “BT has met all but 2 of 56 milestone deliverables with in the first phase of this work. The authority has therefore requested that BT pay an appropriate sum in compensation. The sum is still under discussion."

“In all cases, the contracts which were put in place are addressing the circumstances which can occur in large scale IT programmes and the contracts are proving to be effective."

BT Syntegra is the NPfIT’s largest supplier.  In addition to the £530m national contract for delivering a broadband network it was also awarded a national £620m, 10-year contract to deliver the national data spine. 

According to the FT, in a press conference on 3 June Richard Granger, Director General of NHS IT, insisted that the project was going well but teething problems were to be expected. “Things will go wrong over the next 18 months," he said.

Granger was also reported to have stated that none of the interim milestones missed will affect the delivery timetable. The missed targets relate to delivering and testing parts of the broadband system.

As previously reported by E-Health Insider, some suppliers have expressed concerns that due to the interdependency of the different strands of the national programme any delays to the N3 broadband network or national data spine would have an affect on other aspects of the programmne.

A BT spokesman said: “We were to deliver Phase One on 16 April but not everything was ready. We have now caught up but we have to pay the NHS costs. There’s no number yet because we are still discussing it."

“This is not going to have any impact on key dates for the overall programme. We are already well into Phase Two now."