TPP signs GPSoC

TPP has signed the contract for the GP Systems of Choice framework, one month after the previous contract expired.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre announced today that TPP has finally signed the contract as the last of the 17 suppliers on the framework.

Frank Hester, TPP’s founder and chief executive said the company is “delighted” to have signed the contract.

“We’re delighted to be part of the new framework as this will provide both reassurances for our existing customers and great opportunities for potential new GP practices to move over to SystmOne,” he said.

GPSoC is a framework contract which funds GP IT systems for 75% of practices in England. The framework expired last March, but was extended for another year while the Department of Health tendered for a new contract, worth up to £1.2 billion.

The previous contract expired on 1 April this year and 16 of the suppliers signed the contract before its expiry date.

However, EHI reported earlier this month that TPP was the only supplier not to have signed the framework, due to ongoing “specific contractual issues” around the contract.The HSCIC and TPP have yet to clarify what these issues were, but they have now been solved.

Services from TPP may be ordered on the new framework from 1 May 2014 and the new contract with all suppliers will be in place until December 2016.  

Existing GPSoC contracts for GP practices’ IT systems will automatically transfer over to the new arrangements. 

As part of the previous GPSoC contract, CSC supplied TPP's SystmOne to GP practices. On its website, the HSCIC says that service desk calls relating to SystmOne, previously made to the CSC service sesk, should be made to the TPP service desk from 1 May.

The new framework includes subsidiary services such as document management and patient facing services as well as core clinical systems.