NPfIT support procurement enters final stretch

NHS Connecting for Health has announced that the three remaining bidders for the First Line Service Support (FLSS) contract are Capita, CSC Computer Sciences and Fujitsu.

The FLSS project is intended to replace the National Service Desk, a support line that services the National Programme for IT implementation across all five clusters in England.

Five bidders were originally long-listed for the contract. Those no longer on the list are BT and Atos Origin. CfH is currently undergoing negotiations with the remaining three bidders.

E-Health Insider asked a spokesperson for Connecting for Health what improvements would come from the introduction of FLSS. "The First Line Service Support procurement is being undertaken to provide scalable and value for money front-line support for the NHS alongside delivery of the services under NPfIT," said CfH.

Existing support services will be absorbed into the new contract: "Following award of contract, the services currently provided by the National Service Desk will be subsumed under the new arrangements. The transition arrangements form part of the current contract negotiations."

The contracts, which CfH say are likely to be awarded in the early part of next year, will also feature local framework arrangements, allowing individual NHS trusts to procure local support services for any non-NPfIT front-line technical support they need.

Procurement started for the FLSS project in April of this year, and took place through the Official Journal of the European Union.