The now privately-held, UK-based healthcare software provider, Ascribe, is one of the beneficiaries of the re-opening of the English healthcare IT market on the slow demise of the National Programme for IT in the NHS (NPfIT). Ascribe’s results for the year to 3 July 2011 reveal 9.5% growth in turnover to £23m and a 341% increase in operating profit to £1.2m. UK turnover is 8% up on the previous year to £18.4m, while revenue from the Rest of the World climbed by almost 13% to £4.7m. Given our analysis shows that the UK healthcare IT market shrank by 4% last year (see our UK Public Sector SITS Market Trends & Forecasts report), it’s clear that Ascribe, and other SMEs like it, are gaining share as NHS Trusts opt to procure independently of the erstwhile National Programme.
After several acquisitive years, ECI-backed Ascribe has integrated its principal products into a core software solution, known as the Integrated Clinical Workstation. Ascribe’s ability to integrate its offerings with a Trust’s existing software fits nicely with the NHS’ new ‘connect all’ (rather than ‘replace all’) ethos and helps to keep the NHS’ costs down at a time when budgets are under severe pressure. Ascribe is confident of continued growth in 2012 and - although we wouldn’t describe it as the most exciting company in the sector - we have no reason to doubt that Ascribe will deliver given the general uptick in NHS IT procurements outside NPfIT. Continued high levels of interest in the UK healthcare IT market also mean we wouldn’t be surprised to see further M&A activity involving Ascribe in the coming year, either as an acquirer or ‘acquiree’ (see also the UK Healthcare SITS Supplier Landscape Report 2011).