Southern trusts club together to lead widespread rollout of healthcare technology
A network of 21 acute trusts has been formed in the South of England to lead the deployment of electronic healthcare systems after being left in the lurch following the death of the NHS National Programme for IT.
Poorly served by the national rollout, which left 60% of the trusts without vital systems, the organisations will create six procurement groups dedicated to investing in a range of technologies including e-Prescribing, clinical portal and patient administration systems.
The collaboration, known as the South Acute Programme, has applied for central funding for the venture as part of the Department of Health’s intention to provide cash to enable trusts to procure locally rather than through a national platform. This cash is vital, the collaboration says, to ensuring all trusts have equal access to joined-up solutions.
The trusts also considered purchasing the systems through the NHS's Additional Supply Capability and Capacity framework, but did not get the technology they needed.
As a result, they held three events in July where IT suppliers were invited to showcase their products to clinicians, managers and other staff involved in the initiative.
The events were designed to enable the NHS staff involved in specifying, buying or using the new technologies to see what was available before the formal procurement process begins.
The six groups and their requirements are as follows:
