HC Deb 14 September 2004 vol 424 cc1501-2W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 29 July 2004, ref.185963, on NHS IT, if he will publish a summary of the recommendations of the Gateway review. [187890]

Mr. Hutton

I have no current plans to do so. The considerations of confidentiality attaching to Gateway reviews apply equally to any recommendations they may contain.

Paul Farrelly

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what reviews his Department has undertaken into the financial viability of(a) contractors and (b) subcontractors of companies working on the NHS National Programme for Information Technology; [187360]

(2) if the Department will ask Accenture to report on the (a) financial standing and (b) accounting treatment of revenues and profits at iSoft. [187361]

Mr. Hutton

It is a standard precautionary business practice to commission financial and market assessments of prospective business partners. In addition to the financial evaluation of companies as pare of the Official Journal of the European Union competitive process, all organisations tendering to become prime contractors of the national programme for information technology, and relevant subcontractors, were subjected to financial and market assessments before contractual arrangement were entered into. This was undertaken by specialist advisers; themselves and selected by competitive process.

The Department has no current plans separately to ask Accenture for a report specifically on the financial standing of its subcontractor iSoft, or on the accounting treatment of revenues and profit by the company. These are matters between iSoft and its auditors.

Paul Farrelly

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Department has inquired as to why iSoft has suspended one of its executive directors. [187359]

Mr. Hutton

We are aware from press reports that iSoft has recently suspended one of its executive directors and anticipate that a further announcement will be made by the company following the completion of its internal investigations. We do not regard it as the business of the Department to inquire into the circumstances of the suspension. This is a matter for the company to resolve with the director concerned.