University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has entered a contract worth over £300k with Kinseed Limited for an end-to-end patient care management solution for intensive care units.
The contract, set to run to March 2028, has a total value of £309, 680.20. Marked as an “IT software package”, the solution is a digital EPR application said to enable healthcare professionals to “capture, manage and monitor patient administrative and clinical status during referral and retrieval process for intensive care units”.
Earlier this month, the trust issued a tender notice for an integrated digital patient pathway platform, worth up to £2 million. The platform is sought to help to deliver evidence-based care consistently across specialties, improve efficiency, reduce the risk of error or unwarranted variation, and ensure patients receive care in the “most appropriate setting”, first time. It is also expected to facilitate patient choice and engagement, improve care quality, reduce health inequalities, and “give patients visibility and involvement throughout their journey”.
UHB also shared its intent to procure up to four digital solutions earlier this year, for the implementation of voice recognition software, covering digital dictation, speech recognition with generative AI and outsourced transcription.
Wider trend: digital transformation in Birmingham
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust recently began recording and administrating medical information through the electronic prescribing and medicines administration system, MedChart, as part of their ongoing “strategic initiatives” to increase digital adoption. The system has been piloted by the trust’s EPR team with support from colleagues on Ward 8 at Moseley Hall Hospital – a 28-bed inpatient ward that helps with the rehabilitation of stroke patients.
A recent board meeting has outlined the role, remit, purpose, and agenda of a new Joint Infrastructure Committee launched by The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Following approval from both trust boards, terms of reference have now been submitted to the committee for formal endorsement. Its purpose is to oversee the development of digital, estate, and sustainability plans including regenerative opportunities with partners to improve and rationalise the trust’s estate, save money, or improve efficiency.
The board of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in its September meeting, welcomed the successful go-live of its Epic EPR, however noted the scale of post-implementation effort required. Following the go-live of the EPR in May, the board stated that its “performance is now recovering”, and “acknowledged the significant operational and data quality disruption following go-live”, noting “the scale of post-implementation effort required to stabilise systems and sustain safety”.
