Published on: Tuesday 22nd September, 2015 IT systems project goes live

A new IT systems project intended to deliver a country-wide finance, procurement and logistics solution within the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) in Northern Ireland has successfully gone live with the full roll-out completed across Health and Social Care NI (HSCNI) and HSC Business Services Organisation.

Further to the success of the roll-out, HSC Business Services Organisation has implemented further solutions including Advanced Computer Software Group's (Advanced) Cloud Invoicing more recently. The solution will be used to speed up the approval of up to 250,000 supplier invoices each year, unlocking further efficiencies.

DHSSPS contracted the Business Solutions Division of Advanced to deliver an integrated finance, procurement and logistics solution - a key part of its Business Services Transformation Programme (BSTP).

This programme is transforming the delivery of critical business functions in Health and Social Care ("HSC") in Northern Ireland and is expected to save circa £43 million over a 10 year period. Advanced's contract with the Department is worth £17m over the contract period of 10 years.

Sam Waide from HSC Business Services Organisation says "The new solution from Advanced is a major step towards achieving demonstrable annual savings over the next 10 years and we look forward to using these savings in frontline health and social care services for the benefit of our patients."

This Advanced project has seen the successful go live of the financial management system (FMS) with integrated workflow, electronic procurement, document management, cash management, and budgeting and forecasting functionality within the HSC's Business Services Organisation.

The FMS has been successfully rolled-out to all 16 HSC organisations. As part of the Advanced delivery, an integrated logistics system has also been deployed for streamlining the replenishment of products in hospital wards, theatres and the community.

Mr Waide from BSO also comments, "To achieve this go live within 20 months of the contract being signed is a great achievement and is testament to the excellent relationship we have developed with Advanced and the hard work and cooperation of the HSC staff. We are now experiencing the benefits the integrated solution offers and developing further plans to maximise the benefits the solution and technology offers."

Dean Dickinson, Managing Director, Advanced Business Solutions (Public Sector & Enterprise division) says, "The finance, procurement and logistics solution is key to standardising and automating processes across HSC, improving operational effectiveness and delivering administrative savings."

The £17 million deal is the largest in Advanced Computer Software Group's history.

Advanced Business Solutions is an Advanced Computer Software Group company. The Group won Tech Company of the Year in the prestigious UK Tech Awards 2014 and ranked in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50, which recognises the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the UK.

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