Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS FT has updated on EPR readiness ahead of a planned EPR go-live date of October 2027, highlighting that a “significant proportion of readiness activity remains either not started or at an early stage”, with key dependencies still unresolved.
The update follows on from Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB’s digital strategy to 2029, which outlined ambitions for a “first in type tri-trust integrated EPR” across Royal United Hospitals Bath, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust.
Progress has been observed around core governance structures, leadership frameworks, enabling infrastructure, training, device audits, and initial transformation arrangements, according to the board. Work is ongoing to develop role-based training, define system profiles, and establish cross-organisational groups to support policies, procedures, and super users.
“Readiness tracking across key domains indicates mixed progress,” the board notes. “Some areas such as applications, workflows, and testing are progressing or planned, while others including ESR readiness, communications, and go-live preparation are at an early or not yet started stage.”
Risks identified include clinical workflow readiness, which Royal United Hospitals Bath indicates is the most significant delivery gap, essential to safe implementation. There are no aligned or shared programme plans in place to drive activity across sub-groups, it continues, engagement remains variable for clinical and operational teams, and a number of technical dependencies persist, such as decisions on theatre equipment and integration risks. Workforce capacity and operational pressures are further noted as impacting participation and pace of delivery.
“Urgent, coordinated action” is now required to address these dependencies to reduce risk to go-live, the trust states, with immediate priorities being to finalise clinical workflows, confirm leadership accountability and governance ownership, develop an integrated programme plan, and progress technical decisions. “In summary, while there is a clear structure for delivery and early progress in key enablers, current readiness is not yet at the level required to support safe and timely implementation,” it concludes.
A group overview of progress toward readiness is largely consistent, with key domains reported as off track covering inconsistent change processes, an outstanding clinical safety case, limited engagement, delays with integration and data migration, and the absence of an aligned plan. Overall organisational readiness is rated at 32 percent, or amber/red.
By the end of August 2026, the group hopes to have successfully exited system testing, completed configuration changes required for integration testing, and to have organisational readiness activities on track with “critical activity planning and validation resources secured”. It points to active management of key risks in order to maintain delivery momentum, adding: “Resourcing and capacity constraint remains the most significant delivery challenge in this period.”
Wider trend: EPR
Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has shared benefits realisation and optimisation work associated with its Rio EPR programme following initial implementation in March 2025, providing a revised timeline for delivery, as well as insight into performance issues and resolutions. Following “some delays” with aspects of the optimisation programme, the board hopes to have delivered elements including patient flow management, personal demographic service synchronisation, electronic document management store, and eLearning modules by the end of May 2026.
The board of Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has shared a series of updates around digital, including on AI, automation, and its EPR, alongside the approval of its latest digital, data, and technology strategy to 2030. The trust sets out in the strategy an aim to complete the transition to a single EPR by summer 2028, adopting a two-phased approach, and working with organisations on the same platform to share learning, resources, and knowledge to encourage benefits from “a collaborative approach with economies of scale across the NE&Y region”. It is hoped that the EPR will improve overall digital maturity, with the ambition to achieve HIMSS Stage 5-6 in terms of adoption and benefit delivery by 2030.
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust is working towards a new EPR and a centralised EDMS, as well as focusing on digital for pathway redesign. Progress on the single EPR has been “far slower than expected”, according to NCA, with changes to NHS England digital funding routes and NCA deficit making it challenging to progress beyond the outline business case. “Work to identify capital funding continues in support of the programme and an updated OBC is due to be presented to the board during this financial year,” it updates. “The team are working with community colleagues to set out a clear strategy for a community EPR which remains a gap in our strategic plans.”
