T.E. Raja Simhan

Chennai, June 4 The termination of Fujitsu’s contract with the UK National Health Service will not have any impact on TCS, Fujitsu’s sub-contractor, a spokesman of the Indian software major, told Business Line.

“We do not anticipate any impact on TCS as a result of Fujitsu’s action,” he said.

TCS, as a sub-contractor, is a key member of the Fujitsu alliance appointed in 2004 as Local Service Provider in a £896-million (then Rs 7,520 crore), nine-year contract to help the NHS improve healthcare for patients in the southern region of England. The contract was to run until 2013, but Fujitsu said it withdrew due to dispute on revised contract terms.

“Regrettably, and despite best efforts by all parties, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the core Fujitsu contract that is acceptable to all parties. The NHS will therefore end the contract early by issuing a termination notice,” the NHS said in a statement. In 2004, TCS said it expected revenues in excess of £120 million from the NHS deal to provide clinical application implementation and data migration.

After Accenture, Fujitsu was the second lead member to exit the project. This leaves the £13-billion project with only two major suppliers, BT implementing the project in London, and US-based Computer Sciences Corporation in the North and East of England and in the Midlands.

The North of England and the Midlands use a different patient records system called Lorenzo, developed by medical software firm iSoft, which was acquired by Australia’s IBA Health in October 2007. iSoft was originally a sub-contractor to Accenture, which ended its involvement with the NHS IT project in 2006.

When Accenture left the project, none of its sub-contractors were affected. It will be a similar situation with Fujitsu’s exit, said sources.

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