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The date of 30 June 2013 has been etched in the minds of anyone working on the PACS programme for the last year.  As this date rapidly approaches we are still holding steady for a successful exit of 84 trusts from the national contracts to local procured systems. 

This process has not been without its challenges; indeed, over the last two weeks a number of major ones have reared their head but have been successfully circumnavigated by a concerted effort from the trust, HSCIC team plus incumbent and incoming suppliers alike.  If you do face any unexpected difficulties at the last minute my main piece of advice is to contact the PACS team as soon as possible and actively work together to resolve the issues.

Looking forward to other areas of the country, approximately half the trusts in both London and the North East, East & East Midlands areas have provided notice of their intent to leave the national contract on 30 June 2014.  Procurement activity is well underway in these trusts and I would expect implementation work to begin in 2014.

The key piece of the exit jigsaw which needs further clarification is the available approaches to data localisation in London.  More detail on this is provided in the relevant section but I would like to reassure trusts in the capital that we are working constantly with BT, Sectra and others to define these processes in more detail.

Many thanks!

Alasdair Thompson, PACS Programme Head

North East and Yorkshire and the Humber
Those trusts who are exiting in June 2013 are on track to exit the national PACS contract and continue to engage with Accenture as appropriate to localise their data from the Central Data Store.

Termination Notices have been received for two trusts planning to leave the contract in June 2014.  If you are planning to exit the contract on expiry, trusts must give 12 months notice and submit their termination notices by the end of June 2013.

EA4 localisations, GSPS conversions
The EA4 localisations are progressing to plan and all trusts are due to complete by June 28th.

The GSPS historical conversions are now complete and the script continues to run to convert new studies until the service finishes.

IMS Database Synchronisation Script
The first of Type was carried out at Royal Cornwall 18/19th June. There were no issues reported with the performance of the script and it is running at those sites where requested.

CDS Exit
CSC and GE will be implementing an automated process which will disable all LSP delivered services (PACS and RIS) from one minute past midnight on the morning of the 1st July 2013.

Can trusts please ensure that all staff who use the system are aware of this. The LSP Help Desk function will also cease at this time.

Decommissioning of the CDS will be led by Peter Heron, national PACS Programme.

Significant progress has been made since our last e-bulletin. Firstly, the London Exit Board held on the 06 June not only updated trusts on localisation options, we were also joined by Dave Burns from the NHS Supply Chain who presented a step by step process to both strategic and tactical procurement.

Localisation options
Since our Exit Board, we have met with BT and their sub-contractor Sectra, to refine the localisation options on the table. Specifically, initiating a Query Retrieve (Q/R) or using a File Copy method. We are continuing to work with trusts in identifying the most suitable option - commencing localisation will follow. 

As part on-going work on MIA performance in which to support multiple trusts through localisation; and exploring a possible third localisation option for one or two larger trusts on-going discussions are taking place between Acuo and BT; and a meeting is planned with Bridgehead.

Exit planning
Trust Tracker information is now being shared with all trusts who will update current position and report against at future Exit Boards. In addition, BT and NHS Supply Chain also have sight in order to facilitate a joined up and robust approach to supporting trusts through exit planning. All trusts have advised on exit date and the majority have made localisation solution intentions clear.

Events

UKRC 2013, 10 – 12 June, ACC Liverpool

Alasdair Thompson spoke at this year's United Kingdom Radiological Congress (UKRC) annual national conference on medical imaging.

Alasdair's session, titled PACS & RIS Procurements—Local IT decision making a DH Vision, looked at the vision set out in The Department of Health’s White Paper “Equity and excellence – Liberating the NHS” and how this translates to the transistional control of local PACS systems from HSCIC to local ownership on 30 June 2013.

For more information about the event, visit the UKRC website.

National view