Second wave of LSP deals go to Accenture and CSC

Suppliers Accenture and CSC have won two of the remaining three multimillion pound NHS National Programme deals.

Accenture?s £934m contract and CSC?s £973m contract are Local Service Provider (LSP) deals to implement national systems in the Eastern and North Western regions respectively.

Accenture has already picked up the £1.1bn LSP deal for the North East.

The core of the national applications the LSPs will provide access to is an electronic care records system to be developed by BT.

The system will connect more than 30,000 GPs and 270 acute, community and mental health trusts in a single, secure national system and provide 50 million NHS patients with an individual electronic record detailing key treatments and care, says the Department of Health.

Health secretary John Reid said: ?The NHS IT programme will mean that patients will get access to more comprehensive information to help them make choices and will eventually be able to access their own health records.?

Richard Granger, director general for NHS IT, said: ?Our focus now moves to the challenge of ensuring the timely delivery of high quality services, which we will approach in a similar vein, with attention to clear plans, clear milestones and effective partnership working.?

The final LSP deal, for the South of England, will be announced in the New Year, said Granger.