Plans to computerise the NHS in England could face further delays after a contract with a key supplier was terminated, the BBC has learned.

The IT programme, which is already four years late, will create a single electronic records system for patients.

But negotiations have broken down with Fujitsu, who had been due to implement the plan in the south of England.

The Department of Health said an agreement over Fujitsu’s contract could not be reached.

The estimated final overall cost of computerising the NHS in England is currently £12.7bn.

While the NHS’s Connecting for Health programme has overrun, tough contracts have so far kept it broadly within budget.

However, these have caused tensions with the companies tasked with carrying out the work.

As the programme has developed, contracts have been renegotiated to include strict local specifications.

They state that contractors will only be paid when services are delivered and working.

If deadlines are missed, payment is deducted, although it can be earned back.

Fujitsu was one of three main suppliers of the system and had held a contract worth £895m for the south of England from Kent to Cornwall.

But now its involvement has ended after the parties failed to agree on the specifics of its contract.

The DoH told the BBC it terminated Fujitsu’s involvement “with regret” because it had not been possible to reach agreement.

In a statement, Fujitsu said it had withdrawn from negotiations as it did not feel there was any prospect of an acceptable conclusion.

Existing computer programs installed by Fujitsu in the south of England will continue to be supported, but what happens to those not yet up and running may now be the subject of a legal dispute.

A recent National Audit Office report said an unspecified amount had been withheld from the Fujitsu contract.

The NHS IT programme was launched in 2002 and had been due to be completed in 2010.

The Conservative shadow health minister Stephen O’Brien said the government’s attempts to “ram through a top-down, centralised, one-size-fits-all central NHS computer system” has come “crashing down around their ears”.
Source: BBC news

The Government will today announce a shortlist of companies given the go-ahead to bid on the £2 billion UK ID card project.

The bidding process for the system is set to continue to the next phase, despite the fact that the Conservative party has promised to scrap the plans entirely if they gain power.

“We’ve written to the Cabinet Secretary last year, and all the major contractors, putting them on formal notice that we would cancel it. We have asked the Cabinet Secretary to confirm that they have not signed up to any painful cancellation clauses,” says a Tory spokesperson, speaking to the Times.

Only five companies stand a chance to win the contract to develop the infrastructure needed for the ambitious system: IBM, Fujitsu, CSC, Thales and EDS. Accenture, BAE and Steria were all at one time linked to the project, but have since pulled out of the bidding process.

It is expected that today’s announcement will see one further company lose the chance of bidding. Critics have attacked the fact that few of the proposed suppliers are based in the UK, leaving the possibility of biometric and personal data being stored outside the country.

Recent data loss scandals have further undermined public support for what was already an unpopular project, leaving critics worried that their biometric information could be vulnerable.

However, earlier this week it emerged that the Home Office was outlining plans for another massive database, this time to store details of every phone call made, email sent and browsing session within the UK.

The Office claimed that the system would provide help to law enforcement officers in tracking down and prosecuting criminals and terrorists.

Rural homes in the UK have overtaken their urban counterparts in adoption of broadband for the first time, according to a new Ofcom report.

59% of rural homes now have broadband, compared to 57% in towns and cities, according to Ofcom’s regional communications market report, leading to a predictable breakout of triumphalism at the regulator.

“Our report highlights a closing of the geographical digital divide in the UK,” claims Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards.

“Rural households are today as well connected to broadband as their urban neighbours”.

That is, of course, complete nonsense. People in rural areas are far more likely to live further from their local telephone exchange than those in inner-cities. Consequently, ADSL connection speeds are often only a fraction of those achieved in urban areas, because the “last mile” of copper cabling drains away the speed.

BT’s own figures show that those living only three or four miles from their local exchange are likely to receive actual throughput speeds in kilobits rather than megabits per second.

Sunderland has become Britain’s broadband capital according to the Ofcom report, with 66% of households in the city now connected to broadband. By contrast, Glasgow is the broadband backwater, with only 32% of homes receiving “high speed” connections.

BRITAIN’S TOP FIVE BROADBAND TOWNS AND CITIES

1. Sunderland 66%
2. Plymouth 64%
3. Aberdeen 64%
4. Highlands 62%
5. London 62%

Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged.

The plans, reported in the Times, are at an early stage and may be included in the draft Communications Bill later this year, the Home Office confirmed.

A Home Office spokesman said the data is a “crucial tool” for protecting national security and preventing crime.

Ministers have not seen the plans which were drawn up by Home Office officials.

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Communications Data Bill will help ensure that crucial capabilities in the use of communications data for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime continue to be available.

“These powers will continue to be subject to strict safeguards to ensure the right balance between privacy and protecting the public.”

The spokesman said changes need to be made to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 “to ensure that public authorities can continue to obtain and have access to communications data essential for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime purposes”.

A number of data protection failures in recent months, including the loss of a CD carrying the personal details of every child benefit claimant, have embarrassed the government.

The plans are likely to provoke outrage among civil liberty groups and some political figures.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called the proposals “an Orwellian step too far”.

He said ministers had “taken leave of their senses if they think that this proposal is compatible with a free country and a free people”.

“Given the appalling track record of data loss, this state is simply not to be trusted with such private information,” said Mr Huhne.

The maker of the Blackberry is launching a new phone with extra multimedia features as it tries to attract more casual users.

The Blackberry Bold retains the same shape and feel as its predecessors with a full QWERTY-style keyboard.

But for the first time there is full support for high speed 3G data transmission as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

It comes with satellite navigation and a bigger, widescreen display. Music can be played over the built-in stereo speakers.

The Blackberry has slowly been moving away from its business roots.

The original model, launched a decade ago, was aimed at corporate executives, lawyers and other professional users.

It was one of the first devices to feature “push” email.

Messages could be instantly sent to and from the Blackberry without the need to manually connect to a company’s IT network.

Since its launch, the Canadian firm behind the device, Research in Motion, has dominated the market for smartphones.

But rival models are now threatening to steal some of that business.

Phones aimed at casual users are becoming more powerful with many of the same features as the Blackberry.

Research in Motion is trying to fight back by appealing to the leisure market itself.

A third of the Blackberry’s 14 million subscribers are now classified as private users.

The Blackberry Bold is expecting to go on sale this summer in the UK.

Source: BBC

DSG International (DSGi) shares fell nine per cent this morning following the retail giant’s second profit warning in under four months.

The firm’s CEO John Browett issued a statement today in which he admitted that customer demand in the UK and Ireland has been “lower than expected, with a negative impact on margins”.

He told the City that like-for-like sales in its Currys and PC World stores were down one per cent for the six months to 5 April 2008.

The slump has also blown a massive £30m hole in the electrical retail giant’s pre-tax profits. DSGi said it now expects to see between £200m and £210m for the year – consensus forecasts had initially been set at £242m.

Browett added that sales had been “challenging” across the UK, Italy and Spain in the “prevailing difficult economic environment”.

Customer spending has also hit DSGi hard with computer sales from PC World down ten per cent in the six month period. “It is clear that customers have become increasingly promotion- and deal-driven,” said Browett.

Trading at the firm’s Italian chain UniEuro was even more disappointing, with like-for-like sales tumbling 14 per cent in DSGi’s second half period.

In January the company was forced to put out a profit warning to investors in which it admitted that trading in the run-up to Christmas had been below par, and fingered “generally weaker consumer environments” for its sluggish profit performance.

Browett, who was parachuted in by DSGi as the retailer’s new boss from Tesco in June last year, will announce the first phase of his biz review on 15 May.

Shares in DSGi are currently trading at 60.00 pence on the London Stock Exchange. ®