NHS signs £235m electronic x-ray deals

Nine-year contracts with Accenture agreed for North and North East

NHS Connecting for Health has signed £235m-worth of contracts with supplier Accenture for electronic image systems for the health service.

The nine-year deals for Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (Pacs) covers the North and North-Eastern regions where Accenture is the 'local service provider' responsible for implementing the £6bn National Programme for NHS IT.

Similar deals are already in place for the other three regions. The delays were caused by an unsuccessful legal challenge by Fuji, a rejected bidder.

The systems enable images such as x-rays and scans to be stored and sent electronically, rather than printed on film and filed or transferred manually from one hospital department to another. Electronic images will speed up diagnoses and allow test results to be viewed from multiple sites, including by experts anywhere in the country, and avoids lost films.

'I was disappointed that delay was inflicted on the NHS and our patients by the failed legal challenge,' said Richard Granger, Director General of NHS IT.

'But I was delighted that the judge held that there had been a correct and high quality procurement process.

'Today we have completed the contractual jigsaw and I look forward to driving implementation so that PACS becomes ubiquitous in English hospitals and the benefits are made real.'

The Pacs system will be provided by Agfa.