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CSC axes doctor support software in the UK

580 GP practices will lose their iSoft products

CSC has finally confirmed it is pulling its GP support products from the primary care market.

The company is dropping its iSoft products, including Synergy, Premiere and Ganymede, after they run through their existing contracts. CSC will support the gear until the end of October next year for practices in England and Northern Ireland and until March 2014 for practices in Wales.

Industry talk was rife last week that the iSoft products were headed for the scrapheap, but the company claimed that "regardless of speculation", it was "fully committed to the primary care market".

However, it was forced to change part of its tune on Friday, admitting that the gear was on its way out.

"CSC remains fully committed to the primary care marketplace," the company repeated in an emailed statement.

"Following an in-depth review of our strategy for this area of our healthcare business we have concluded that we will not support a small number of former iSOFT products we provide, we believe this decision is in the best long term interests of our customers.

"We will of course be continuing to support these GP practices through the transition for at least another 12 months," CSC added.

Pundits were tipped off about the impending end-of-life for iSoft when CSC didn't bid for a GP contract in Wales or a similar deal in Scotland. Both countries instead gave the contracts to InPS and EMIS.

According to analyst firm TechMarketView, iSoft has been losing market share to rivals with newer GP products.

TMV said that 580 doctors' practices in the UK use the software: nearly 6 per cent of England's market and 13 to 15 per cent of the Northern Ireland and Wales market.

"These practices will be shocked to have to find a replacement application at relatively short notice, and seemingly without any additional funding for migration," TMV said.

"For other suppliers in the GP sector, CSC’s decision is of course an unexpected bonus – the likes of EMIS, InPS and TPP will be eager to step into the breach." ®

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