Multimillion-pound NHS IT deal up for grabs

Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust eyes five suppliers to overhaul its clinical information system

Up to five IT services players are being eyed up by a Gloucestershire NHS Trust as it looks to revamp its clinical information system (CIS) in a deal that could top £60m.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust hopes to sign up a quintet of IT firms to supply it with a range of tech including medical software, software services, document-management equipment and general IT support.

The contract is set to run for eight years but could be extended to 10, and will be worth between £35m and £60m over that time.

The CIS will be delivered to the trust on a managed-service basis and will serve the authority's Pathology, Pharmacy, Electronic Prescription and Women and Children's departments, among others.

The main award criterion will be price and the deadline for submissions falls on 20 September, according to a recently published tender document.