Care Records is a developer of leading-edge technology for the design and development of clinical IT systems. It has used this core technology to produce the Eclipse maternity system and a diabetes management system, both of which have been installed in UK hospitals. Further applications for the acute and community markets are under development and will be available soon.

The Eclipse products are developed using the Microsoft.net framework, the same development environment as MedWay Sigma, System C's next generation Patient Management and Electronic Patient Record system. They have also been fully integrated with MedWay as part of the Company's recent deployment at the Isle of Man.

During 2007, Care Records has sold and successfully implemented its maternity software at four hospitals: Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust; Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trusts; Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals Foundation Trust; and the Nobles Hospital on the Isle of Man. The diabetes management system has been installed at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

System C will maintain and extend Care Records' relationship with Huntleigh Healthcare, and is setting up joint distribution and collaboration agreements with Huntleigh for both the UK and overseas markets.

System C's chief executive, Ian Denley, commented: "Care Records has developed exciting next-generation systems which integrate seamlessly with our latest Medway development. This acquisition gives Medway users a far broader range of clinical functionality and allows us to fast-track our development programme. We see many new opportunities both within the UK and overseas as a result of this acquisition." He added: "Another benefit of the acquisition is that we will be building on Care Records' close relationship with Huntleigh, a leading medical equipment supplier, and we plan to work closely with them and their clients over the coming years to provide seamless integration between our respective clinical systems and devices."

Philip Godfrey, founder of Care Records, highlighted the synergies between the companies: "Working with System C will open up many new opportunities for us. Their excellent track record in the development of healthcare IT solutions, combined with their proven deployment capability, experience and size, are a perfect match for us."

The consideration for the acquisition is £0.85m in cash on completion, with up to a further £2.6m payable in cash over the next 3 financial years dependent on the achievement of demanding performance targets. The consideration is to be funded from System C's existing resources. In the year to 31 December 2007, Care Records reported profits of £0.2m and reported small net liabilities of £0.03m. The board anticipates the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the financial year to May 2009, reflecting initial investment in sales and marketing activities.

Related news articles:

• System C Healthcare's Profile

About System C Healthcare plc
System C Healthcare plc, established in 1983, specialises in the provision of information systems and solutions to the healthcare sector. Its employees have an average of 15 years' healthcare experience and can provide all aspects of systems design, development and deployment services. System C is founded upon the belief that IT solutions, when effectively implemented, can significantly contribute towards improving patient care.

System C is a specialist developer and supplier of Patient Administration and Electronic Patient Record Systems to the health service. The company's MedWay product is successfully installed at a number of NHS hospitals including University Hospitals Aintree, Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, Tameside Hospitals NHS Trust and the Christie, one of the UK's leading cancer hospitals.

System C has helped to install healthcare systems at over 150 NHS Trusts and offers a wide range of services to Local Service Providers, the NHS and third-party suppliers. These include programme/project/change management, design, build and test, implementation, training, data migration, interfacing and helpdesk/support services. Within the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), System C people have been involved in 75% of secondary care go-lives to date as well as many GP, community, Single Assessment Programme and child health deployments.

For further information, please visit www.systemc.com.