City council and NHS set up new private IT company

NEWDevonCCG
Authored by NEWDevonCCG
Posted: Friday, October 3, 2014 - 12:08

Plymouth City Council and NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have launched Delt Shared Services Ltd.

The new private sector company, will be owned by and initially provide information computer technology (ICT) services to the two public sector organisations and is expected to bring socio-economic benefits to Plymouth and the rest of Devon.

In 2014 Plymouth City Council and NEW Devon CCG were awarded £500,000 following a joint bid to the Department for Communities and Local Government for a transformational challenge fund to help set up a high quality shared service.

Delt will take the ICT expertise and resource from both organisations and bring them together in one place, making sure services are provided locally for local communities rather than being outsourced out-of-area.

Annette Benny, NEW Devon CCGs managing director responsible for ICT and also a director of Delt Shared Services Ltd, said she was pleased to be able to maintain an information technology base within the south west but was also excited about the prospects Delt could offer across a range of shared services.

“Many companies have chosen to outsource their back office functions to large multinationals, taking jobs and expertise out of the local area.

“Delt will be looking to keep expertise, technology and services local, with an emphasis on providing opportunities to a skilled local workforce,” she said.

“There is also a real opportunity to look at the range of services Delt could offer in the future, by working with local partners the opportunities could extend much further than just ICT.

“It will be committed to building flexible and progressive services for local communities and investing in people to create innovation and retain talent.

“There will ultimately be economies of scale too. Some examples include the sharing of management expertise and better contracting with suppliers and sharing of systems, which will help reduce costs for hosting, maintaining and upgrading ICT.

“We are convinced that with its experienced workforce of technical specialists, Delt will be able to offer greater skills meaning the local authority and NHS can work more efficiently to ensure better outcomes for the people we serve.”

Councillor Peter Smith, Deputy Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “The creation of a new company jointly owned by the Council and the NEW Devon CCG is an innovative way of increasing efficiency while improving services. Another big advantage is that it is also supporting the local economy by keeping jobs and skills in the area. I’m looking forward to seeing the new company go from strength to strength.”

Delt will also provide IT support services for GP practices across Devon, which was previously under the remit of NEW Devon CCG.

All of the ICT staff that were employed by Plymouth City Council and NEW Devon CCG have been transferred into Delt Shared Services Ltd (under TUPE) and will provide the same services to both organisations and practices that are members of NEW Devon CCG as they did previously - business as usual.

*Delt is a Danish word that stands for shared