PACSnet to close after funding pulled

The PACSnet advisory group is to close, after the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) announced that it will cease funding the group.

PASA’s Centre for Evaluation-based Purchasing said it will cut funding of evaluation work on PACS as it no longer views this as a high priority.

As a result, PACSnet, an evaluation group which provides support for the development of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) to the NHS, will be forced to close on 11 December 2008.

Now that most English NHS trusts have implemented PACS, CEP says the PACSnet group is no longer needed, as there is little procurement activity in the NHS in order to justify funding.

A CEP spokesperson said following extensive consultation with Connecting for Health the organisation had concluded “It would be ‘unacceptable’ to continue to expend public money with a supplier who was not being fully utilised.”

However, a spokesman for PACSnet, which is hosted by St George’s Hospital, London, disagreed. He told E-Health Insider the loss of the group and the information and expertise it provides will be detrimental to services in the NHS relating to Health Informatics as there are still benefits to be gained from the service.

“The significant issues of wider connectivity are still to be dealt with, and hospitals can benefit from the independent and authoritative advice and guidance that PACSnet can bring to the National implementation of IT solutions,” said the spokesperson.

The CEP said that all of its contracts with existing suppliers will expire on 31 March 2009. Thereafter, it will hold an open competition for new contracts.

The CEP, an arm of PASA, is funded by the Department of Health to provide objective and independent evidence to underpin procurement decision-making for medical technologies.