CSC deal under scrutiny

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson will face questions from the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee regarding the interim agreement between CSC and the Department of Health.

EHealth Insider exclusively revealed last year that the deal will give the first ten trusts that commit to taking CSC’s Lorenzo electronic patient record system by the end of March a signing-on bonus of £1m for implementation expenses.

This is in addition to up to £4m that will be available for deployment and training costs.

The PAC inquiry, which will take place on 18 March, will see Sir David questioned about the end of the National Programme for IT in the NHS and the incentive payments to trusts that take Lorenzo.

EHI previously reported that suppliers were concerned about the impact the deal was having on the North Midlands and East market as a number of trusts put procurements on hold while evaluating the offer.

A spokesperson from the PAC told EHI last month that “the committee has been receiving correspondence on the matter” and has since confirmed that questions will be asked of Sir David next month.

The National Audit Office has also confirmed it is producing a benefit analysis update on NPfIT, but said no release date had been set.

The Department of Health was supposed to submit an update to the PAC in September 2011.

A DH spokesperson told EHI last October that the NAO was still reviewing the draft of the benefits statement and that it was going to be published “in due course”.

Sensitivity has surrounded the interim deal that the government signed with CSC since it was announced last September.

EHI understands that NME trusts were advised by the DH not to talk about potential Lorenzo deployments until after the March deadline.

A spokesperson from the DH said there was no central directive and it was up to individual trusts whether to discuss their plans.

However, when EHI contacted George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, one of the trusts thought to be carefully considering the CSC deal, a spokesperson said it was “not commenting on this at the moment,” and that “all enquiries should be directed to NHS Connecting for Health.”

Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust; and Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust all intend to take Lorenzo, but EHI understands they are all still awaiting central approval for their business cases.

CfH’s exact process and timescales for contract signing are still unclear and EHI has requested further information.

Despite having submitted a business case to take Lorenzo, Derby told suppliers last month that procurement was still ongoing.

Another trust considering taking Lorenzo, Walsall Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, will decide which system to buy next month.