CfH terminates Fujitsu helpdesk contract

NHS Connecting for Health has terminated the service desk contract it had with Fujitsu because of performance problems.

The First Line Service Support contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd was terminated last week. A CfH spokesperson said the service desk would be transferred in house and supported from the agency’s Exeter office until a permanent provider could be found.

“We are in discussion with Fujitsu about arrangements to ensure a smooth transition of the service,” they added.

The national helpdesk contract was initially awarded in April 2006. It has been live since March 2007 and was due to run until April 2013. However, it has suffered performance issues that it has not been possible to resolve.

The contract termination follows Fujitsu’s departure from its £1.1 billion local service provider contract for the South of England in May 2008.

However, Fujitsu is still providing interim support to the “live eight” sites using Cerner Millennium in the South and retains the lucrative contract to provide PACS services across the region.

A CfH advisory note says Fujitsu Services Ltd will continue to deliver the FLSS service “during an initial transfer period.” The current service will be moved to the NHS CFH Systems and Service Delivery desk based at the CfH Exeter site.

CfH says it will consider longer term options for helpdesk provision with the end users of the service and other key stakeholders.