Government seeks replacement supplier on £400m framework

Department of Health on the hunt for new service provider to replace current supplier in 2015

The Department of Health (DH) is on the hunt for a new service provider to take over a £400m contract to supply electronic records to the NHS.

The Provision of the NHS Electronic Staff Records (ESR) Service deal is set to be worth between £200m and £400m over the course of five years and nine months. At the end of the period, there will be an option to extend for a further two years.

The current ESR products and related services are provided by a single supplier under a managed-services deal which is due to continue until August 2015, but to ensure continuity of provision, the DH is tendering for a replacement already.

The new supplier will be charged with operating the contract as it stands today as well as a range of upgraded and enhanced services.

A range of payroll management tech, software, database services and human resource [HR] support is sought from the new supplier for the ESR solution, which provides NHS staff with access to workforce-management tech such as payroll and human resources information and services.

The new supplier must be able to "ensure that the NHS has access to a robust and reliable HR and payroll solution and workforce management data beyond the expiry of the current ESR contract," said the DH.

"[It must also be able] to adopt a fit-for-purpose commercial model ensuring sufficient flexibility to respond to ongoing changes as well as offering options for the solution at exit [and] enable the provision of high-quality workforce data with assurance on data integrity and management in the delivery of the emerging health and care landscape."