Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s (MFT’s) board has shared plans to update the forecasted net financial benefit of its Hive EPR from £340 million as listed at the business case stage, to £390 million. Alongside this increase, the trust highlights a series of planned EPR improvements and integrations, as well as upcoming work with NHS England as part of a review of productivity increases following EPR adoption.
Integration work with MyMFT and the NHS App is ongoing, with the trust sharing that Epic interfacing with the NHS App will be completed in March 2026. The business case for local care organisation digitisation “continues to be developed, as is the case for Epic Infrastructure refresh with both cases expected for review in Q3”. Discussion is ongoing relating to the potential uses of Hive monitoring to help review productivity and effectiveness of system use, and the trust has been approached to work with NHS England as part of a review of post-EPR adoption productivity increases.
This month, MFT will launch the second phase of its ambient AI pilot following the “successful completion of phase one”, where 50 consultants used AI software to transcribe patient consultations, and patient feedback was positive, who felt their clinician was “more focused on them”. Phase two will use an “improved” product that is directly integrated with Hive, to be trialled by 100 consultants over a period of three months. If an evaluation in December 2025 demonstrates that the expected benefits of improved patient/clinician experience and efficiency/productivity savings are being delivered, this will then lead to a “larger rapid deployment”, it states.
In terms of population health, MFT plans to build on work to embed health prevention into clinical service models, “complemented by work with the digital team to develop prevention functionality within Hive” with a pilot currently in motion at North Manchester General Hospital. Initially, this will help clinicians screen for housing, financial, or transport issues to connect patients to partner organisations for support, before expanding to other sites and covering themes including employment and physical activity, the trust states.
Work has also begun on the scanning of MFT’s 1 million+ paper case notes, with an external scanning provider contracted to complete this over the next eight years, and a commitment to scanning 120,000 notes within the financial year.
On a wider note, MFT shares that its digital services are on track to deliver this year’s VfP target, but highlights challenges and increasing cost pressures due to changes in licensing models in the broader market.
Wider trend: EPR and EPR optimisation
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 intention to jointly procure an EPR was shared in June, with the organisations noting the steps they are taking ahead of when current contracts end in 2028. A joint digital programme board is leading the work to make sure it meets the needs of both organisations, with the trusts also focusing on sustainability and to be proactive in its services for the future.
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.
