Written question asked by Oliver Heald (Conservative) on Wednesday, 3 July 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 19 September 2002. It was answered by David Lammy (Labour) on Thursday, 19 September 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he will take to ensure the fairness and transparency of the procurement processes to be used in implementation of the new NHS ICT strategy; whose responsibility it will be to (a) choose and (b) enter into contracts with specific application suppliers from the accredited lists of the new NHS ICT programme; and if he will make a statement as to his Department's involvement in such decisions; by what process NHS ICT suppliers will be shortlisted nationally for accreditation; what progress has been made concerning the short list of prime contractors to implement the new NHS ICT programme; what procurement processes will be used for the implementation of the new NHS ICT strategy; what role value for money will play in choosing ICT preferred suppliers to implement the new NHS ICT strategy. - (Holding answer 8 July 2002).

Secondary information