The NHS has signed up to framework agreements with Eduserv, the not-for-profit IT services group, to supply IT products and services.

The framework agreements will allow GPs, nurses, and health managers to share with their peers the latest developments in their fields and to buy web services and consultancy on how they can improve the way they can communicate better with the public.

Eduserv is a professional organisation with a charitable mission. It develops web services for a range of government organisations and public sector bodies, using its capabilities to realise the benefits of IT for learning and research. The group has a long history of working with the NHS. Around 275,000 NHS professionals use the organisation’s access and identity management service, Athens, to access a series of online information resources of the National Library for Health.

Eduserv is a not-for-profit, professional IT services group with the mission to realise the benefits of IT for learners, researchers and the institutions that serve them. It achieves its charitable mission through the provision of sustainable services and funding research and development.

Establishedi n 2003, the Eduserv Foundation undertakes activities that support the effective application of information and communication technology in education. A number of programmes have been launched since then including: Eduserv Research Grants; Assistive Technology Licences; Tutor Guides for Vocational Education; and Information Literacy initiatives. It has also funded more than six hundred university and college site licences for assistive technology software.