A digital and data roadmap to 2028 from the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has outlined key updates, launches, and procurements, including EPR optimisation, AI pilots, and a LIMS solution. A new digital strategy is also in development and expected to be published in 2025/26.
For 2025/26, focuses will include an EPR upgrade, rollout of Windows 11, the deployment of virtual desktop infrastructure, eRS integration, patient flow system review, ophthalmology EPR procurement, and the procurement of a voice recognition solution. The digital strategy will be launched, and AI work will be undertaken with pilots across Copilot, ambient voice, and clinical coding, with AI-assisted waiting list validation also to be explored.
2026/27 will see the trust working on AI enablement, and engaging with HIMSS accreditation, telephone system migration, and a move to EPR cloud environment. The move to a new EPR platform, a refresh of virtual infrastructure, and a network upgrade are scheduled for 2027/28.
In its latest clinical strategy covering 2025 – 2030, the trust highlights its intention to harness emerging technologies, to focus on the collection of real-time patient data to inform care planning and outcomes tracking, and to utilise predictive analytics to anticipate patient needs and resource requirements. The Countess of Chester also plans to ensure the “rapid” adoption of AI, and to integrate its EPR with other systems to promote improved flow and better intelligence.
“The needs of our population have been changing, and in turn the needs of our service users including patients and staff have change as we progress into the digital age,” the trust shares. “Our users expect quick, efficient, mobile tools and services for accessing information.” While progress has been made in implementing a number of digital systems, services remain that continue to rely on paper or that use “individual systems that do not integrate well either within the trust or with our partner organisations”, it adds.
Wider trend: Future plans for digital and data transformation
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s board has shared plans to update the forecasted net financial benefit of its Hive EPR from £340 million as listed at the business case stage, to £390 million. Alongside this increase, the trust highlights a series of planned EPR improvements and integrations, as well as upcoming work with NHS England as part of a review of productivity increases following EPR adoption.
Medway NHS Foundation Trust has outlined a business case for a full virtual hospital with 260 virtual beds, aiming to free-up 91 inpatient beds, close of up to three wards, and position MFT as “a leading site for ICS-wide scaling of digitally enabled acute care”. The virtual hospital will run as a fully governed clinical service, MFT highlights, offering daily virtual ward rounds with a multidisciplinary clinical team, remote monitoring, escalation protocols for patients needing in-person review or hospital transfer, and in-person visits where required. It will continue to utilise the Feebris platform, which has already been procured in a multi-year contract, offering medical kits for at-home monitoring and software.
A short-term AI strategy for 2025 – 2026 from Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has been published, as the trust looks to learn from the first 12 months of AI deployment ahead of a full AI strategy update. It prioritises “high-impact, lower-risk use cases, with rigorous evaluation, human-in-the-loop safeguards and strong governance” across ambient AI, generative AI, agentic AI, and automation. The trust’s AI work will be informed by seven AI principles covering safety, confidentiality, research, evaluation, partnership, ethics, transparency, and data quality. All adopted technologies will be assessed for compliance; every AI initiative will be evidence-led and risk-aware; and working with educational institutions and “trusted suppliers” will supplement MPFT’s AI expertise.
