NHS is now seeking new health IT provider. Source: Hospital Healthcare

NHS Connecting for Health (NHS/CFH), the agency in charge of England’s National Program for IT in the NHS (NPfIT), has terminated its $1.77 billion (£896 million) contract with Fujitsu Services.

The London-based Fujitsu has been in negotiations to “reset” its contract with the NHS to deliver IT systems to hospitals in the south of England for more than a year. On May 24, despite earlier indications that progress was being made to resolve the differences between the two parties, NHS/CFH reported that they had failed to reach an agreement.

According to a NHS/CFH statement, work has started immediately on planning the necessary arrangements for the termination of the contract. The statement added: “NHS/CFH has to continue to protect the interests of the taxpayer and preserve the basis of contracts which ensure payment on delivery.”

NHS/CFH said it may choose to use its new Additional Supply Capability and Capacity (ASCC) framework agreement for the procurement. ASCC was born as a result of Accenture’s sudden departure from the National Program and is designed to make it easier for NHS/CFH to replace a key supplier in a similar situation, according to the agency.