16 April 2004
US outsourcing giant EDS has confirmed it has pulled out of bidding to become a partner in the NHS Shared Financial Services, but insisted it was still committed to working with other parts of the public sector.
Shared Financial Services aims to increase efficiency by allocating mundane finance department tasks to specialist centres. It will be part of the Department of Health's response to Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review, though it will not be compulsory for NHS organisations to outsource the work.
Instead, shared services will have to win the business. There are two sites in operation (in Leeds and Bristol) covering about 5% of the NHS, but they plan to increase this to 50% within five years.
Bringing in a joint venture partner is key to this expansion and EDS was one of the five companies shortlisted last month. A decision on the joint venture partner is due by the autumn.
However, it appears that EDS is moving away from providing NHS services. A spokeswoman told Public Finance: 'EDS will continue to pursue appropriate procurement opportunities across central and local government.'
PFapr2004
