We anticipate that the main build of Lorenzo release 2.0, containing care management functionality, will be available for ongoing testing in the United Kingdom by the end of December 2008.
At Morecambe Bay hospitals NHS trust there is currently limited clinical usage in a single ward, with 10 system users. At South Birmingham primary care trust, the system is being used by the podiatry team, involving 14 users. Bradford teaching hospitals NHS foundation are preparing to go live in the new year and there are therefore no live system users at present.
Information on the number of concurrent users is not held centrally.
Lorenzo release 1.0 and components of release 2.0 were first demonstrated to NHS Connecting for Health officials in India during 2007, followed by a number of demonstrations to NHS clinicians, officials and to some Public Accounts Committee members in the UK in 2008. More general demonstrations of the software have been provided since September 2008 to national health service staff.
The original relevant local service provider contracts signed in 2003 did not refer specifically to the Lorenzo product by name but to an integrated care service. A later contract reset on 8 January 2007 covered a two-release strategy for Lorenzo with the following release key milestones:
Lorenzo release 3.5—30 June 2008; and
Lorenzo release 4.0—30 June 2009.
A four-release strategy has now been adopted.