NI health department awards £70m deal

Northern Ireland's Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has awarded HP a wide ranging ICT framework contract

The department's directorate of information systems signed the deal with HP, which will provide and support regional ICT projects, and will be available to health trusts and boards across the province. Some of these services are likely to be sub-contracted by the main supplier.

An award notice in the Official Journal of the European Union on 7 October 2009 says the framework will cover the supply and support of hardware, support and software, the last including a range of off the shelf products and bespoke application development.

Commenting on the award, Victor Almeida, senior analyst at Kable, said: "This is more than three times the average ICT budget of an integrated health trust in Northern Ireland, which we estimate to be between £4m-£5m a year."

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