Cerner contract re-set puts focus on local needs

Cerner, the system supplier to the London and Southern Programme for IT, has suspended design work on the Millennium Release Two patient administration system, throwing deployment schedules into further doubt, E-Health Insider has learnt.

Despite this, Cerner emphasised that work was still going ahead to implement Millennium into Southern trusts, but with much greater emphasis being placed on adapting the system to meet local requirements.

The system was due to be released in 2009 to NHS trusts in the South and London, but Cerner confirmed to EHI this week that they have suspended design on R2 of the PAS, for the Southern Programme for IT, since 17 August.

A spokesperson for the Southern Programme for IT told EHI that the suspension was connected to the current ‘contract reset’ being undertaken in the Southern cluster, as exclusively revealed by EHI last month.

“We can confirm that Cerner have suspended design of R2. The R2 design team are now going to each trust in the region to work with them individually, ensuring that the system that will be delivered is the right one for them.

“This is in line with the contract reset that Sarah Elmendorf [the new NHS programme director for the NHS IT programme in the South] told E-Health Insider about last month, where we are moving trusts onto a different release profile and aiming to get more suitable systems in on a shorter timescale.”

R2 will be the third phase of the Millennium system installation across trusts in London and the South. It will be the first time the system achieves Spine compliance and will extend the existing PAS functionality from the first two releases. 

To date R0 has been deployed in six Southern trusts and one London trust. Both Fujitsu and BT have said that they will switch to R1 deployments early next year.

The suspension of work on R2 throws into doubt the future deployment timetable for Millennium and leaves questions over when Millennium will be completed and if the 2010 target will be met.

As part of the NPfIT Local Ownership Programme (NLOP) trusts will be responsible for deciding what systems they take and when.

EHI contacted several trusts in the Southern region who are waiting for delivery of the first release of Millennium. Many told EHI that they were now prepared to take systems under NLOP, and were working with their SHAs to ensure the right requirements for their trust would be met.

“We have been negotiating with our trust board and our local SHA to build a detailed specification as to what we want, and are working on a deployment timetable, which will include a lengthy rigorous testing phase,” said one South-west based trust IT director.

“We have approved a business case and are liaising closely with our SHA to ensure we have the smoothest possible transition,” said another IT director.

Fujitsu, local service provider to the Southern Programme for IT, told EHI that the contract reset, together with the principles of NLOP, means that trusts must work with Cerner, to ensure that the system they receive is right for them.

They said that the contract reset underway was being looked at carefully and is being conducted jointly between the NHS, its suppliers and NHS Connecting for Health.

Lester Young, NHS account director at Fujitsu Services, said: “The work is being led by the SHAs and trusts and aims to confirm the requirement for software development and deployment in the South of England for the future to meet the needs and priorities of the NHS.

“This is expected to define a different release profile that aims to deliver core functionality needed by the NHS at the earliest opportunity and, in most cases, in advance of current planned release deployments.”

Fujitsu were unable to provide information on dates of upcoming deployments of the system, but maintained that plans were in place for 17 trusts.

Although the systems being delivered to London bears the same name as the Southern system, the two LSPs have requested different specifications for the systems being offered to trusts in their regions.

A BT spokesperson told EHI that as specifications for the R2 system were different to begin with, they were confident that the suspension in the South would not affect their release plans.

“We were aware of the suspension. The version of Cerner Millennium that BT is deploying in London has, in a number of ways a different specification from the version being delivered in the South. This has been agreed between BT and NHS London to meet the special and specific requirements of the London Trust community. It reflects the fact that, in London, different products are used for non-acute care settings.

“We are happy with the approach we have agreed with Cerner which includes the opportunity for us to take into account lessons learned both in London and from colleagues in other regions on an ongoing basis.”

Cerner confirmed the suspension to EHI but said work with both clusters is ongoing.

“Cerner remains committed to the development of the Millennium solution and is continuing to work with the NHS, CfH, BT and Fujitsu to deliver Cerner Millennium in London and the South as part of a release schedule agreed by all parties.”