IMS signs contract with BT for London trust

IMS MAXIMS Plc today announced that it had signed a three year contract with London local service provider, BT, to supply its web-based clinical software to Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust (BHRT).

The £5m contract provides for the immediate installation of four IMS clinical applications at the trust to support order communications and results reporting, clinical documentation, therapies and oncology.

The IMS applications are being integrated with existing systems – McKesson patient administration, Clinisys laboratory and iSoft radiology. E-Health Insider understands that work had commenced at the trust ahead of the announcement.

A BT spokesperson told E-Health Insider that the deal for IMS at the east London trust was not long term: "This is a time limited, interim arrangement The plan is for BHRT to migrate to the strategic solution in due course."

Brian Ennis, managing director of IMS, said, "IMS has made significant investment over many years in the development of advanced clinical software and we are delighted that our products have been chosen for BHRT.”

Ennis added: “Finalisation of this contract for BHRT validates the company’s decision to persevere with the continuing development of advanced applications to supplement the LSP [local service provider] offerings.”

Ennis also said that successful implementation in BHRT could provide IMS with “opportunities for further sales to new customers elsewhere in the NHS."

The announcement of the deal further confuses the picture of how the £6.2bn Connecting for Health NHS IT programme is now to be delivered in London. In December 2003 the DH awarded BT a £996m 10-year contract to modernise NHS IT in the capital.

To date it has installed core patient administration software at one acute trust – Queen Mary’s, Sidcup. BT’s clinical software provider is currently GE Healthcare, but the company has made clear its intention to switch to Cerner. A contract has yet to be completed.