NHS IT software cuts create gaps in licensing upgrades

Chief information officers in the NHS could face additional software costs after the Department of Health decided not to renew licence agreements for a range of Microsoft and Novell software and services used by NHS staff in England.

The non-renewal of the enterprise-wide agreements (EWAs) means local health trusts will now have to pay for most upgrades to Microsoft or Novell software, at a time when trusts are being asked to slash budgets to help meet the government's £20bn Department of Health (DoH) savings target.

David Boakes, associate director of IT with NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney, said the DoH is pushing the financial burden of software licensing on to trusts.

"Like most of the NHS, Microsoft software is the strategic platform for our servers and desktops, whether it is SharePoint or SQL databases. This is an additional financial burden and it is not helpful at a time when we have also got to make significant financial savings," he said.

For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see NHS IT staff feel the squeeze on software costs on silicon.com.