Ten suppliers are on a new framework worth up to £300m to supply clinical information systems to 30 community and mental health trusts in London and the South.

A consortium of 30 NHS trusts and community interest organisations launched a procurement process in July last year to establish an IT framework agreement worth £150m – £300m over four years.

The new framework is in preparation for the end of their National Programme for IT in the NHS contracts in October 2015. 

The organisations in London and the South got CSE healthcare’s RiO electronic patient record system delivered by BT under the programme. Both companies are on the new framework.

The tender was split into three lots: 1. the application; 2. hosting services; and 3. integration, interoperability, reporting and portal services.

Advanced Health and Care, BT, Civica, CSE Healthcare, Emis and McKesson are each on the framework for all three lots.

CSC is on for lots two and three, Capita is on for lot two, QuickSilva is on for lot three and TPP is on for lots one and two.

Peter Gooch, chair of the ‘2015 Consortium’ and associate director of ICT at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, described it as a “magnifcient achievement” to bring together 30 organisations and deliver a framework agreement on-time and within budget.

“The consortium approach provides excellent value for money and flexibility for the future, enabling organisations to procure the services that they need and further opens up the possibility of developing new and innovative solutions that may also be required,” he said.

The new framework will expire in April-May 2017, giving all the member organisations sufficient time to negotiate, agree and migrate their replacement systems and data prior to expiry of the NPfIT contract, or later, should the current contract be extended.

The London Procurement Partnership supported the consortium by providing procurement expertise. Workstream lead John Horan said the agreement could be extended to other NHS trusts nationwide.

View the suppliers on the new framework and a list of the organisations involved here.