§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contract between the NHS centre for coding and classification and CAMS Ltd.; and on what date any changes will take effect. [5908]
§ Mr. HoramThe contract with CAMS Ltd. on Read code licensing and support is with the Department of Health, and not with the national health service centre for coding and classification. Its operation is managed and audited annually by a civil service branch of the NHS executive.
That contract takes the form of an NHS agreement and a non-NHS agreement. Their effect is to grant to CAMS Ltd. exclusive rights for the licensing and support of Read codes worldwide. The earliest termination dates are 20 March 1999, and 20 September 1999 respectively.
Following recent publication of the Silicon Bridge Research report on Read code licensing and support arrangements, the NHS executive has accepted the recommendation that the exclusive agreements should not be continued beyond the earliest termination dates. The executive will be negotiating changes in the manner in which the existing contract is executed—dates for implementation of any changes have not been determined.