 The contract will provide the NHS with national computer services |
A �300m contract to provide the NHS in Scotland with a new computer network will be signed by the health minister. The contract will provide the NHS with most of its national computer services for 11 years.
These range from patient records to the health service payroll and nurse rostering systems.
The deal has been struck with a consortium comprising IT firm Atos Origin, BT, IBM, and another IT firm, Sopra Newell & Budge.
Paper files
The consortium will have more than 350 people dedicated to the NHS, working from sites in Paisley, Dundee, Livingston and Edinburgh.
The contract will be signed at a �7m data centre in Livingston, West Lothian, operated by Atos Origin, which Health Minister Andy Kerr will also open.
The centre was set up by Atos, and will host the services to be provided in the contract.
Mr Kerr said: "Currently, most health information is stored on paper files that are kept in different places.
"The services provided for in this contract will help prepare for the future and ensure that patient records are stored in a secure electronic environment."
He said the data centre would enable secure access to patient information around the clock.
If someone needed emergency treatment outside their health board area, it would enable doctors to find out if they were on medication or had a record of reacting badly to some medicines.
Professor Stuart Bain, chief executive of NHS National Services Scotland, said: "The IT services supplied under this contract will help provide NHS Scotland with the information it needs to deliver effective healthcare and the technology needed to deliver that information to the right person at the right time."
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