The North West Collaborative Procurement Hub, an NHS Trust in the northwest of England, is to outsource printing and document management to Xerox for the next five years in a deal which is expected to save £5.5m over the duration of the contract.

The deal is the second for Xerox, having signed a contract with the South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority earlier this month worth approximately £50m for a similar five-year printing and document management service.

Xerox will manage the Trusts' direct printing requirements, such as day-to-day office printing, scanning, copying and faxing, as well as indirect print orders, such litho-printed brochures, and document storage, archiving and retrieval.

"We can help [the Trusts] identify where productivity improvements and cost and waste reductions can be made, and free staff from often very time-consuming back-office activities," said John Hopwood, director and general manager at Xerox Global Services.

"This will help the Trusts to redirect the time and money saved towards activities primarily associated to patient care."