System C may receive sale offer

System C has confirmed that it has received an approach that may lead to an offer being made for the company.

It issued a short statement yesterday in response to movements in its share price, but advised its shareholders to take no action.

An offer may not materialise, but the company was obliged to make the statement under stock-market rules.

System C was founded in 1983 and has developed the Medway suite of clinical and care management systems, which are used by 50 hospitals in the NHS and by the private sector.

It also offers design, implementation and trouble-shooting services, and positioned itself as an implementer of National Programme for IT in the NHS software during the programme’s heyday.

In January, it reported reduced revenues, as work deploying NPfIT systems dried up and contracts for portal and dashboard products that the Department of Health had commissioned from the company were scaled back. 

In response, System C – which won a major Microsoft acolade for its dashboard work – said it would move back towards selling and deploying its own products.

Chief executive Ian Denley said the company felt "a surge in procurement activity is underway" from which it would be well placed to win business.

Earlier this week, Logica announced that it had successfully delivered a new heatlhcare IT system to support UK military and NATO personnel in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, working with System C as a contractor.

The first phase of the project was completed within four months of the contract being awarded last September, with System C tailoring Medway to meet the particular needs of the Ministry of Defence.

In a further stage of the project, Logica will integrate Medway with legacy medical applications at the Camp’s treatment facility.