NHS England has signed a five-year agreement to use the full suite of Microsoft 365 productivity apps.

The deal has been negotiated as a single national contract.

Previously, each local organisation had to purchase their own licences which means that the move has saved the NHS money as well as ensuring all departments of the NHS is are working on the same systems.

The contract has been facilitated by Bytes and includes the option to include other productivity tools from other suppliers in the future.

Bytes said it will enable the NHS to be more productive, make collaboration easier and increase the amount of time available to care for patients.

“We’ve seen huge benefits following our original agreement with Microsoft in 2020, whether using Microsoft Teams to make it quicker and easier to arrange meetings or other digital tools that mean more time can be spent supporting patients,” said John Quinn, chief information officer at NHS England. “This is a further great example of the NHS using our collective buying power to secure market-leading products at a reduced cost for taxpayers, and our contract with Bytes means we can also explore opportunities to introduce new innovative technology over the coming years.”

Share Story: