Healthcare software firm iSoft Group Plc, announced this morning that the Financial Services Authority has begun a formal investigation to investigate accounting irregularities uncovered by the firm earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the FSA told E-Health Insider “We will be undertaking a formal investigation”. The spokesperson added this had already begun. “It is underway”.

iSoft said on 8 August that a provisional enquiry by its auditors Deloitte had found evidence of accounting irregularities affecting its 2004 and 2005 financial years.

"The group has now received notification from the FSA (Financial Services Authority) that they will be undertaking a formal investigation into the possible accounting irregularities," iSoft said in a statement this morning.

iSoft has been hit by a string of problems and profit warnings related to a £6.2bn upgrade of computer systems for the English NHS being managed by NHS Connecting for Health.

iSoft is the clinical software sub-contractor to Computer Sciences Corporation and Accenture in three out of the five regions of the CfH programme. Delivery of its core Lorenzo clinical software, currently being developed in India, is running over two years late.