Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has progressed its EPR programme, moving to “full mobilisation” following confirmation from NHS England.
The trust board reported delivering a full business case to NHS England for its SystmOne EPR, with implementation plans “well underway”. At that time, it shared that six Listening into Action teams had been assembled to direct the design and configuration work required to tailor the system to meet trust needs, and that good progress was being made on staff training and the migration of data from Lorenzo. The development of EPR super users is a priority for Q1 2026/27, and go-live is hoped to take place in 2027, it added.
The EPR programme has now been given the go-ahead to enter “full mobilisation”, after receiving confirmation from NHS England’s Business Case Review Service that all preconditions for contract signature have been met, the board now updates. Work is said to be continuing on clinical design, data migration, operational readiness, and scope refinement, with reports to be provided on an ongoing basis relating to indicators of organisational strain such as workforce capacity and operational pressures, along with adaptations to be made in response.
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS also records progress around its roll out of ambient voice technology, that began in May following successful trials. The first phase, covering older adult community services, is marked as “complete”, with the next phase already underway across adult community services, and further phases planned. According to the trust, the intention is to deploy 1,000 licenses over the current financial year, with hopes of reducing time taken for clinical documentation, improving staff wellbeing, and ensuring faster sending of letters to GPs and service users.
Wider trend: EPR
An EPR tool offering a calculator and clinical decision support for safer medicines management is to launch at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust on 1 September. The Anticholinergic Medication Index (ACMI) tool aims to support prescribers and pharmacists assess patient anticholinergic burden in patients aged 65 and over in inpatient and day case settings. Integrated directly into the EPR, the trust shares that the tool has the capability to automatically update ACMI scores when an anticholinergic medication is prescribed or changed, using a scoring system based on 88 “commonly prescribed” medicines.
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has highlighted a targeted EPR tender publicationin September, ahead of business case approval in 2027, as well progress on ambient voice pilots and its patient portal programme. The partnership has held future EPR stakeholder sessions with outcomes to inform its EPR specification, the board indicates, with tender publication expected around September or October 2026. Full tender evaluation is then scheduled for November to December, before hopes for full business case approval in January 2027.
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has moved to tranche two of its EPR programme, following the successful completion of tranche one in March, involving migration to the cloud. The trust advises that the programme has “now entered its highest-risk phase”, with an emphasis on testing and staff training. The migration to cloud itself has required a significant level of testing and assurance, reportedly completed with no operational impact, it continues. Tranche two includes ePMA, clinical documentation for unplanned and non-elective care, and radiology integration, as well as the migration from the trust’s existing electronic management system scheduled for 12 September, 2026.
