University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is set to go live with its Epic EPR on 23 July, said to be a step forward in the One Devon programme forming a single, shared digital system to bring together hospital and specialist community services in Devon.
Following go-lives across Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in 2020, as well as Torbay and South Devon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust earlier this year, the move will see all three organisations able to access patient records throughout the region “quickly and securely”, UHP notes.
Anticipated outcomes shared by the trust include a reduced need for patients to repeat information to different teams, improved continuity and safety of care, and better experiences of care for patients. 250,000 patients in Devon are also now reportedly signed up to the MY CARE patient portal, to support them to access information about their care, and to view appointment information, test results, and letters.
The EPR has helped with a number of Royal Devon’s digital aims, including supporting virtual working between the trust’s sites and creating “one virtual organisation”, Professor Adrian Harris, chief medical officer at the Royal Devon and senior responsible owner for the One Devon EPR programme, said. “We’ve always been committed to delivering care as close to home as possible, and we were early adopters of virtual wards and wearable tech,” he noted. “We have a huge virtual ward and do an awful lot of work in the virtual ward space. We input more data from wearables into our EPR than any other Epic site in Europe, so that’s been immensely powerful in driving that left shift.”
In a LinkedIn post, senior information officer for nursing, midwifery, and AHPs – EPR Katy Griffiths shared details of a leadership go-live preparation event, covering training, BCA, and command centres, supported by colleagues from Torbay and South Devon.
HTN recently caught up with Adrian, who shared his outlook, stating: “By August, the whole of Devon, all 1.3 million people, will be on a truly horizontally-integrated single instance of an integrated EPR, so if we think about where we were in 2019 with our myriad of systems that didn’t talk to each other, multiple logins, no patient access; it’s a massive step change.”
Sarah Brampton, UHP deputy chief executive, spoke of her pride at the dedication and hard work of teams. “Bringing a single electronic patient record to University Hospitals Plymouth is a huge achievement for Devon,” she added. “We are already seeing the benefits elsewhere in the system, and I’m really looking forward to the positive impact this will have for both our patients and our staff – supporting more seamless care, improving access to information, and helping our teams to work more efficiently so they can focus on delivering the best possible care.”
Wider trend: EPR
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. 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.
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has delayed the planned June go-live 
of its eCare EPR, describing the decision as a “necessary and appropriate assurance action”. The decision was taken following a 60-day review of clinical, operational, and technical readiness, the board shares, highlighting that despite substantial progress, it had not been sufficiently assured that a June go-live would consistently support safe patient care and service continuity across all areas. Additional time will now be taken to complete further clinical and operational assurance, the trust states, as well as to strengthen end-to-end pathways, improve safety controls, increase staff readiness and confidence, and “reduce systemwide risk at go-live and during early stabilisation”.
Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has shared the latest on its EPR progress following a launch event in June, covering recruitment, finances, and a roadmap to go-live. An initial tranche incorporating ED, inpatient, and order comms, is due to go live in July 2027. A second tranche including PAS and outpatients is then expected to follow later in the same year. The launch session was “well attended with good representation” from across the organisation, including nursing, AHPs, midwifery, medics, operational, and corporate, the trust highlights. Engagement was reportedly high, and focused module sessions took place throughout the day.
