Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has shared its progress around the procurement of a new EPR, with the aim to deliver a replacement by spring of 2027.
According to the trust, the procurement is motivated by the need to address “long term usability and functionality issues” in the current EPR system, said to be “the root cause of many data issues”, with the trust’s performance and finance committee in September increasing the risk score associated with “utilising digital opportunities” from 12 to 15.
A new EPR programme director is being sought to lead the procurement and implementation process, with responsibilities to establish robust change management, governance, and engagement strategies, and to ensure the programme delivers on its objectives.
On the procurement, NSFT outlines plans for the contract with a new EPR supplier to last for five years, with options to extend. The system is expected to bring opportunities to introduce new functionality and services such as a patient portal, to allow patients to manage appointments, review health records, and communicate with their care teams online, it adds.
NSFT also points to challenges around data quality, with the Board Assurance Framework highlighting that if data quality issues in the EPR remain unresolved, “data migration to new EPR may be compromised resulting in inaccurate, incomplete, or duplicated patient records being transferred into the new system”.
Listing gaps in control, the trust outlines a lack of system changes to alleviate constraints in the existing system to better enable staff to capture and access data. More “hands-on” education and training on the system is required, it states, in order to support data migration and adoption of the new EPR.
Wider trend: EPR
A recent HTN Now panel discussion explored EPR customisations for the frontline and how digital transformation can support the direction set in the 10 Year Health Plan. We discussed optimisation, challenges and key learnings from success stories shared by our experts. Panellists included Doctor Stephen Jones, principal clinical psychologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital; David Wong, associate professor of health data science and health informatics at Leeds University; Mark Simpson, digital innovation leader at Leeds Community Healthcare; and Michael Odling-Smee, CEO at Aire Innovate.
Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has selected the Nervecentre electronic patient record as its preferred supplier, following a tender process. The trust becomes the eleventh acute trust to select the EPR, with neighbouring trusts, Harrogate and District deploying the platform and York and Scarborough planning to go live early next year.
NHS Humber Health Partnership, covering Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, has announced its selection of the ORBIS U EPR solution by Dedalus. Sharing on LinkedIn, the trust celebrated the “significant milestone” the EPR represents in helping both trusts improve the experience of staff and patients across the Northern and North-East Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire regions.
