A tender revealing that NHS Scotland is actively seeking a cloud solution and systems implementer is ‘a much-needed step and hugely welcome news for innovators,’ says a health service partner

The plan to embrace a major software-as-a-service (SaaS) overhaul for finance, HR, payroll, and procurement functions across all of its health boards is being spearheaded by NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) on behalf of NHS Scotland.

The new strategy — revealed last week through publication of a £206m tender for a 15-year contract — is designed to modernise NHS Scotland’s ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure and support its digital transformation efforts.

Graham Watson, Executive Chair of formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health said: “This is undoubtedly positive news for a health service looking to deliver on its modern, forward-thinking ambitions.

“It is a much-needed step and will be hugely welcomed by aspiring workforce innovators, with NHS Scotland striving to provide a flexible, agile, and cost-effective environment supporting both better joined up service delivery and more progressive ambitions.

“In the short-term, it is vital that the right SaaS platform is identified, along with a trusted systems implementer to support a strong design, delivery, and rollout.

“If that is achieved, then in the longer-term, the benefits are clearly huge — from the potential to revolutionise patient care in Scotland by improving data management, to enhancing collaborative efforts, and lowering costs.”

The tender states that SaaS and system integrator suppliers must enter a “bidding partnership” from the outset and jointly offer “a cohesive solution and delivery approach” in order to apply for the contract by 18 June.

The competitive procedure will result in two national contracts from NSS — one with the technology vendor, and another with the systems integrator.

The proposed budget will be split, with £120m given directly to the cloud-based SaaS solution, and the rest spent on implementation costs.

The Scottish Government’s Care in the Digital Age: delivery plan 2024 to 2025 notes that it plans to complete the full rollout of a new National GP IT system, before moving to a single cloud hosted solution by 2026.

The plan pledges to “support and develop our current and future leaders to drive, deliver and embed digital transformation across Scotland’s health and care service”.

It added that “health and care services are built on people-centred, safe, secure and ethical digital foundations which allow staff to record, access and share relevant information across the health and care system, and feel confident in their use of digital technology, in order to improve the delivery of care”.

Last year, NSS contracted OneAdvanced Health and Care’s cloud-based software to serve as a document management system across all GP practices in Scotland.

Mr Watson continued: “Across global healthcare, integration of cloud software is helping to enable telemedicine and facilitate the use of new artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies for improved patient outcomes.

“Those are just a few examples, and I am certain it will prove to be a valuable investment on numerous levels.

“The cloud is nothing less than a foundation for the future of the NHS which will only encourage its innovators — and I am delighted that the wheels are now firmly in motion to grasp its many opportunities.”