BT wins new IT deals for NHS hospitals

BT already runs the NHS London region IT

BT is to take over responsibility for supporting eight hospitals in the south of England that are using the Cerner Millennium patient records software installed by Fujitsu.

Details of the deal are due to be announced next week, but come after previous incumbent Fujitsu saw its contract terminated by NHS Connecting for Health (CfH) last May.

"Connecting for Health can confirm that an extension to BT's contract has been agreed which will enable them to take over the live Cerner Millennium sites in the south,” said CfH in a statement.

Fujitsu had its £1.1bn local service provider deal for the southern region terminated last year. Since then it has continued to provide interim support for the sites.

The BT deal covers only those trusts that have already had Cerner installed. Connecting for Health is yet to announce what will happen to the rest of the sites in the Southern region who were to have systems installed by Fujitsu.

Computing revealed in November last year that BT had submitted a final bid to take over the whole southern region deal, but the prospects of a full takeover have receded since the supplier later announced a £336m one-off charge and a major review of contracts - including its existing commitments to the NHS National Programme.