Scottish GPs software provider goes bust amid winter pressures

The main IT software supplier to Scottish GPs has gone into administration due to “financial difficulties”.

Cegedim SA announced Tuesday afternoon that its British subsidiary, In Practice Systems Limited (INPS), which supplies the Vision clinical IT system used by most GP surgeries in Scotland, had gone into voluntary administration.

Remaining GPs which were using alternative systems were in the process of adopting the Vision platform.

Designed to improve how health organisations operate, Vision allowed doctors to carry out remote consultations and provided analytical tools to help them decide on the most suitable treatments for patients.

NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has said there is “currently no risk to services” and has established an incident response team to handle the situation.

Steven Flockhart, director of digital and security for NHS NSS, confirmed the agency is “working closely with health boards and the Scottish Government to rapidly assess the situation.”

It is understood pre-existing contractual agreements mean there is no immediate threat to service provision and the provider will support services until a solution or a new provider is found.

The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) in Scotland was briefed about the collapse “within hours” of the announcement and is also “closely monitoring” the situation.

Dr Chris Williams, deputy chair of the RCGP Scotland, said: "Scotland has learned from previous major IT incidents.

"We are glad that NSS immediately stood up an incident management team to handle this situation and I am engaged with the team as part of the clinical workstream group.”

Dr Iain Morrison, chair of British Medical Association's Scottish general practitioners committee, added: "We have sought assurances from Scottish Government that contingency for this is in place, including the safeguarding of access to medical records and to have an ongoing workable IT system if the company ceases altogether.

"Our thoughts are also with the staff affected, particularly at this time of year." 

Cegedim employs more than 6,500 people across 10 countries.

Steven Flockhart, director of digital and security for NHS NSS said: "We recognise this has occurred at a time of ongoing winter pressures and want to reassure board practitioners and patients that there is currently no risk to services following this week's development."