The SPSA brigade, covering police and NHS patients will both be impacted by the two developments.

Northgate Managed Services will be supplying a "clinical portal" system that allows doctors, nurses and key healthcare professionals across primary and acute care access to the same key "snapshot" of patient information.

The system will remove clinical staff need to log on to multiple IT systems to get the information they require and will cover more than a quarter of the Scottish population. It follows a similar system already up and running in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, which covers some 1.2m people.

Computer Weekly reports that the Scottish Government has launched its (2005) NIM programme  to develop a national model of common policing processes and provide a scalable solution for recording, management and analysis through integratimg police ICT systems.

Information management procurement will focus on the acquisition of a national core ICT solution with the functionality to support the new business model in a scalable package. A key feature of the ICT solution will be capability to integrate with existing and future national police ICT systems through a flexible and agile approach.

The procurement exercise may include some or all of the following: "software components, software licences, specialist hardware, integration and implementation services, business change activities, data management activities and lifetime management."

The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) which supplies ICT support for 1,300 applications, 12,000 PCs and laptops and 21,000 handheld radios across 250 sites; is acting on its own behalf and as agent for the eight Scottish police forces.

Central Scotland Police, which pioneered the use of open source, including Linux desktops, chose to implement a major Microsoft-based IT overhaul, replacing much of its 2000 OS infrastructure in 2005 with Microsoft technology, including Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Microsoft Office.

An Audit Scotland report noted when SPSA was formed "In ICT, there were 350 staff with around 200 different job titles, 750 contracts 190 suppliers, with each force having different ways of identifying and recording assets and license agreements."

Apparent health services and police IT rationalisation has come just before the elections and just as Scottish Government faces calls to publish details on the cost of setting up a single police force to cover the country.

The idea of a single force is outlined in a consultation on the future of the police service, but the SNP has not indicated its  preferred option.

Alex Salmond is on record of the need to reform the police structure.  "Most people are approaching this debate with a view that organisational change may offer such efficiencies to enable us to police Scotland, not just democratically and accountably, but efficiently as well."

But Liberal Democrat leader, Shetland MSP Tavish Scott, who opposes the plan, notes that a national police force will cut local policing across Scotland, and only Strathclyde Police Chief Constable, Stephen House has spoken in favour of a single force. A  Northern Costabulary staff survey, with the largest area of country to cover, showed 86% against the idea.

The Herald reports that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) representing Scotland's 32 authorities has also expressed alarm at much of the public debate on restructuring public services, with proposals to create a single police force or a unified fire & rescue service, claiming Scotland’s public services future is being jeopardised by election campaigning, that is  guilty of “political expediency.”

Cosla outlined its concerns on reform to the Scottish Government’s Christie Commission over restructuring the public sector.

President Pat Watters said: “If you want to reform you need to look at the whole public service and what’s troubling is that no matter what the political party we’re hearing things about single police, fire or care services without the slightest shred of evidence that it will improve the situation."

“What is extremely concerning is that the parties are discussing how to change democratic services we are accountable for. This is all about elections and nothing about services.”

£75m Scottish Digital Network
Proposals to establish the Scottish Digital Network (SDN) to deliver local television services in Scotland and improve broadband speeds have been put forward by the Scottish Government and aformal expression of interest submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in response to its Local Media Action Plan consultation.

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop told Scottish Parliament's Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee the bid presses the case for the network in Scotland to be publicly funded, as recommended by the Scottish Digital Network Panel.

"We recognise that the UK Government's view is that the core network for local television services should largely be commercially funded. However we do not think that such a solution is likely to offer significant public service benefits for viewers in Scotland.

It is now for the UK Government to work with us to establish a digital network for Scotland, funded from the licence fee as S4C  (the Welsh language service) will be from 2013-14, or from the sale of spectrum, once digital television switchover has been completed, which will then accommodate more localised broadcasting."