Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust are moving forward on a group EPR, with a preferred supplier to be named on 30 November and a contract due to be signed in January 2026.
The upcoming end of the Frontline Digitisation Programme, which provides around £30 million of funding to the trusts, means it is “imperative to conclude contract signatures asap”, the trust boards-in-common stated. “This will require providing up-front payment to the successful supplier, therefore our procurement teams, supported by NHS England, NHS London Procurement Partnership and our delivery partner are exploring options for mitigations such as clawback clauses.”
A proposed timeline is for an initial review of the draft full business case on 13 November, followed by approval for submission to NHSE’s EPR investment board, with the supplier to be named on 30 November and the signing of a contract by 30 January.
The trust’s have appointed an EPR programme director, who is due to start on 22 October, with recruitment also underway for other related roles. Initial conclusions have reportedly been shared from operational and clinical readiness workstreams. Escalations to the programme board have been made on availability of key staff to complete the procurement evaluation and readiness activity, and the group recognises the risk that the procurement might not be completed in time to use the capital available from NHSE in the 2025/26 financial year.
Plans were shared earlier this year around the trusts digital strategy for 2025 – 2028. The strategy offers six objectives: continuous improvement of the digital estate, accessibility of systems from anywhere, a single digital estate, doing things once, cyber resilience, and control over contracts and renewals. “Where we can share digital services with other providers for proven mutual benefit, we should,” the partnership shared regarding collaboration. “We do not hold the monopoly on good ideas, and we should ‘steal with pride’ from the best where we can.”
Wider trend: EPR and EPR collaboration
For a recent HTN Now session on the topic of EPRs now and in the future, we were joined by digital leaders including Sally Mole, senior digital programme manager – digital portfolio delivery team at The Dudley Group; Keltie Jamieson, CHIO at Bermuda Hospitals Board; and David Newey, digital health expert and executive CDIO. We heard in depth from our panel in terms of their EPR journey, sharing their approach, examples, challenges and lessons learned. We went on to discuss the current position with EPRs, the opportunity, and the current need. Looking ahead, we discussed what the future of EPRs looks like in the short, medium and longer term.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a joint EPR programme has been prepared by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, outlining the joint approach to procurement, governance, resourcing, and decision-making. The joint approach is intended to ensure the successful implementation of an EPR solution, providing a consistent and unified patient record, aligning with national NHS digital strategies and regulatory requirements, sharing expertise, and to support “cost-effective resource allocation”.
The East Cheshire NHS Trust board has noted a “smoother than anticipated go-live” of its MEDITECH EPR in June of this year, noting learnings to share with other trusts, the impacts across the hospitals and the next phase of the programme. The joint go-live with Mid Cheshire NHS Foundation Trust introduced phase one functionality including emergency department, patient administration system, theatres, inpatient and outpatient clinical documentation, and radiology requesting. Inpatient electronic prescribing and medicines administration followed shortly after.
