Fujitsu has announced that nearly 700 people previously working on its cancelled £1.1bn National Programme for IT contract could be made redundant.

The concerns follow Fujitsu's withdrawal from the programme after a contract renegotiation failed.

The government must act quickly if it wants to retain the staff for the project, said Unite national officer Peter Skyte.

"The government must act to ensure that the knowledge and skills gained in working for Fujitsu are retained, whoever the provider or providers in the future," he said.

The Department of Health (DoH) said it was examining with Fujitsu their desire to deliver the Picture Archiving aspect of the Programme, which could further reduce the number of staff potentially affected.

The DoH emphasised that any service transfers to another supplier would be subject tu TUPE regulations.