London consultancy that has previously won 30 health service deals, including some worth tens of millions of pounds, has been picked to support core nationwide tools for provision of care

NHS England has signed a multimillion-pound contract for a tech firm to serve as “strategic partner” for the provision of national digital services, including tools for managing care referrals and booking patient appointments.

Today the central health-service organisation has entered into a two-year engagement with London-based tech consultancy BJSS – which earlier this year was acquired by global IT services giant CGI. The deal, which is valued at £16.6m, covers the provision of support for the NHS’s “enabling products portfolio” of digital platforms.

According to a freshly published commercial notice, this suite of products comprises a range of major systems covering key elements of patient care delivery across the country.

“[This] portfolio is responsible for delivering integrated architecture and approach to digital interoperability across the providers of the wider health and care system, including core national products to enable bookings, referrals, and medicines management,” the notice adds. “To do this, it operates with a blended team of highly skilled, experienced, and dedicated permanent staff and suppliers to deliver a range of services. To support the delivery of the Enabling Products Portfolio, NSHE is seeking a strategic partner to provide digital delivery services.”

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The chosen partner – BJSS – is a long-term provider of digital support to the health service, having previously won a range of big-ticket deals. This includes a £37.5m contract won late last year to offer support to the national NHS.UK website, and a £10m-plus engagement awarded in autumn 2023 to assist with the development of a new cervical screening management system.

From 2019 to 2024, BJSS also fulfilled a £50m deal to support the NHS’s e-referrals system. Between 2021 and 2023, the UK tech player also held a £20m contract for support of the NHS App.

Online procurement records on GOV.UK indicate that the company has previously won more than 170 public-sector contracts – at least 30 of which relate to the NHS.

Its latest win represents a replacement agreement for a previous deal for “digital design services” for the health service’s prescribing and dispensing directorate, according to commercial pipeline documents.