London NHS 111 pilots suspended

NHS 111 pilots in Inner North West London PCTs and NHS Hillingdon have been delayed over concerns they may be open to legal challenge.

The Hillingdon, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster pilots were supposed to go live this month.

However, the contracts were awarded without a tender process and were therefore at risk of legal challenge, a NHS North West London spokesperson said.

“The decision has been taken to delay the roll-out of the pilot NHS 111 service in Inner North West London PCTs and NHS Hillingdon as it did not meet our standing financial instructions or the rules laid out in the Public Contracts Regulation 2006,” she said.

“This could lead to the risk of a legal challenge if allowed to continue, so more time has been given to resolve the issues before beginning the pilots.”

A revised timetable for implementation had been agreed, starting with an accelerated procurement due to be completed by spring 2012.

“Our aim is to have a fully functional NHS 111 service in North West London available to the public and our GP colleagues as soon as possible,” the spokesperson added.

The primary care trust cluster expected to open a new tender process to bidders “very shortly” which would be on its website and Supply2Health.

The decision to delay comes as the newly released Department of Health’s Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2012-13 highlights the need for strategic health authority clusters to make sure NHS 111 covers the entire country by April 2013.

The operating framework, released yesterday, said this could be achieved locally via a full local procurement, establishing the service through pilots, or an “opt-in” model involving a consortium of NHS Direct, ambulance services and other local providers.

The framework specifically says that full procurement must be done using Any Qualified Provider principles, but does not mention this requirement in relation to pilots.

The operating framework also stresses that all patients who have been informed that Summary Care Records are being created in their area must have their own record created by April 2013.