NHS England has awarded a contract to support the transformational activities of the digital urgent and emergency team, worth an estimated £37,415,000, to Kainos Software Limited.
The initial focus will be on NHS pathways, directory of services and urgent and emergency care data delivery areas, with the contract also to cover transformation activities for other areas within urgent and emergency care across all delivery teams.
The programme is set to focus on supporting triage and remote triage, products to direct patients to the right service after triage, and using data to improve which incorporates transformation workstreams such as re-platforming, re-architecting and re-tooling to address capacity and capability issues.
Kainos describes itself as a digital services specialist and a partner to Microsoft Solutions, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services, providing solutions and deployments that “allow organisations and people to work smarter, faster, better”.
Matthew Edgar, director of digital urgent and emergency care at NHS England, commented: “Digital transformation is an essential part of our plan to ensure that every patient’s urgent care needs are met in the most appropriate place and time. The new contract with Kainos will complement our growing in-house technical and design expertise to provide improved care for patients.”
John Smith, head of healthcare at Kainos, added: “From infrastructure and data to service design and user experience, we look forward to helping NHS England modernise and leverage innovation to boost efficiency and quality for staff and patients.”
The contract is set to run until August 2027.
Contracts: in the spotlight
Earlier in the week HTN highlighted how NHSE published an opportunity for suppliers to create an online learning resource for allied health professionals to develop their digital skills through NHSE’s Digital Academy, through a six-month contract worth £60,000.
Last week came the news that East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust awarded a 10-year contract for a community electronic patient record system with an estimated value of £3,060,870 to The Phoenix Partnership (TPP).
September also brought news of a prior information notice from Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust signalling intention to create a framework for the provision of online and digital mental health assessments, treatments and therapies across the region, with an estimated value of up to £35 million.
And at the start of the month we noted plans from Barts Health NHS Trust to procure a site-wide, real-time system for the monitoring of vital signs at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.
Urgent and emergency care
Last month we explored the emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) exercise programme from NHSE for 2024 to 2030.
Earlier this year HTN covered a letter to ICBs, NHS acute trusts and regional directors setting out information on the expanded urgent and emergency care capital incentive scheme, with details on how submitted data and metrics could see organisations rewarded for improvements they make to the timeliness of patient care.
The funding incentives for urgent and emergency care and plans for the new virtual ward operational framework were also shared here, with the framework itself explored here.
