ARUNDEL, U.K., April 1, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Futuremedia (Nasdaq:FMDAY) E-learning solutions provider today announced that County Durham & Darlington Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust, a major healthcare provider in northern England, has chosen Futuremedia to produce, deliver and track e-learning content for doctors on short-term contracts, and also for doctors who commence employment in the Trust outside of the national August/February induction days. The courses will give vital induction information to the doctors to help them work effectively, and this will ensure the Trust adheres to CNST (Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts) guidelines to allow doctors to work safely within the Trust.
Pat Carter, Education, Training and Development Manager, Information for Health, comments: "Until now, new doctors to the 4 different sites have been given structured teaching in a lecture theatre setting, but this needed to become more flexible and immediately accessible for those who commence outside of the normal NHS start dates, and particularly doctors on limited contracts. The doctors have a great deal of important information to learn for induction purposes as soon as they come into the Trust, and Futuremedia's e-learning provides the way for them each to receive consistent and good quality induction/education, no matter when they join the Trust."
The content will welcome doctors to the Trust, and will include information on clinical support services, resuscitation procedures and clinical risk management. It can be delivered via learning centres at the Trust, hospital wards, at their homes or the Trust's Internet cafes, and on the local NHS network.
Mats Johansson, CEO of Futuremedia, comments, "We are working as partners with the Trust, and will develop an online development environment to specifically allow Subject Matter Experts to view the content we produce at all stages of production. We provide enormous attention to detail and work hard to ensure that we fully understand our customers - both of which the Trust has noticed."
About Futuremedia
Futuremedia plc (est 1983) is a Solutions Provider in the growing e-learning market with 20 years experience in the interactive media field supplying products and services to industrial and commercial business sectors and government, mainly in the UK and Continental Europe.
The Company has a proven track record in providing knowledge and training via Solstra, its proprietary Learning Management System which in its largest application has a capacity for 240,000 users.
Incorporated within its principal operation headquartered in the U.K., Futuremedia's Professional Services team identify and specify client requirements and Futuremedia's Content Studio then design and develop custom content for clients' needs. The Futuremedia Library unit specifies and administers any content required from its comprehensive range of third party products. The Solstra Team deploy Futuremedia's own Learning Management System enabling training to be rapidly administered, delivered and progress tracked.
Futuremedia's customers include Royal Mail, Syngenta, BUPA and BT. Training content from partners SmartForce, Centra Software, SkillSoft and NETg is supplied and supported.
Futuremedia can be found on the Web at http://www.futuremedia.co.uk
"Safe Harbor" Statement under Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: This press release contains forward-looking statements related to future results and speaks only of the Company's expectations as of the date hereof. Such statements include discussions concerning the future performance of the Company's products. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The risks and uncertainties include the early stage of the Internet and intranet learning and communications market, the management of growth, the ability of the Company to develop and successfully market new products, rapid technological change and competition, and other factors detailed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in expectations or in information on which any such statement is based. All product names and trademarks mentioned herein are trademarks of Futuremedia or their respective owners.