Leeds and Ripple Pick Lockheed Martin to Help Build Open Source Digital Care Record

David Bicknell | Government Computing | June 14, 2016

Under contract, worth £80,000, Lockheed Martin will help open source support work in city, which is at forefront of health and social care initiatives

Leeds City Council and the local Ripple community health initiative have picked Lockheed Martin to help them deliver aspects of an open source IT development to build an integrated digital care record platform. Ripple, which is funded by the NHS Tech Fund and hosted by Leeds City Council on behalf of the NHS Integration Pioneers, is building an open source integrated health and care platform that allows frontline staff to access the most up to date and joined up care information about an individual, helping drive better and safer care.

Ripple's clinically led team used the city council's ICT framework to facilitate the tender worth £80,000. Lockheed Martin will join a growing list of suppliers that is supporting the development capacity to the open source movement. Announcing the work with Lockheed Martin, Leeds City Council and Ripple said Lockheed Martin's Information Systems and Global Solutions (IS&GS) business in the UK has "extensive experience in open source and the use of openEHR (Electronic Health Record) as the underpinning architecture that Ripple is implementing and promoting."

It added that Lockheed Martin will help support the work that is underway in Leeds for the benefit of frontline health and care staff. Leeds, which has the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) - soon to be renamed NHS Digital - based in the city, as well as the second largest teaching hospital in Europe, is regarded as one of the best cities for health and well being. At the same time, facing continuing austerity, the city council sees its role as one of leadership, facilitation and commissioning...