Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has placed the total cost of its eCare EPR project at £43 million, with implementation expected to be completed by June 2026. £13.3 million of this figure is reportedly to be spent with the trust’s main software provider.
The trust has been working with clinical and operational staff to help develop the system, and is now reportedly in the testing phase, with an expected go-live date in winter. More than 200 subject area experts are helping to provide “invaluable expertise”, whilst there have been 650 sign-ups to become an eCare champion to drive the change forward across the organisation.
Work is also ongoing around upgrading trust technology and hardware, with 880 desktops, 1103 laptops, 275 monitors, 130 workstations on wheels, and 1025 mobile devices upgraded since April 2024. There has also been a WiFi network upgrade across the hospital sites and more than 500,000 patient GP practices and contact details updated in preparation for data migration.
“Our work will not end with go-live; we will continue to optimise the system once it is in place to refine and improve what we do as eCare helps us transform our services to support our vision for outstanding care for one and all,” RCHT states.
The EPR is expected to help consolidate digital and paper-based systems, promoting easier access for staff to up-to-date patient data, lessening the admin burden, supporting clinical workflows, and offering smoother and safer care for patients. A patient portal will give patients the ability to view their health record and manage appointments.
Wider trend: EPR and EPR optimisation
For a recent HTN Now session on the topic of EPRs now and in the future, we were joined by digital leaders including Sally Mole, senior digital programme manager – digital portfolio delivery team at The Dudley Group; Keltie Jamieson, CHIO at Bermuda Hospitals Board; and David Newey, digital health expert and executive CDIO. We heard in depth from our panel in terms of their EPR journey, sharing their approach, examples, challenges and lessons learned. We went on to discuss the current position with EPRs, the opportunity, and the current need. Looking ahead, we discussed what the future of EPRs looks like in the short, medium and longer term.
The East Cheshire NHS Trust board has noted a “smoother than anticipated go-live” of its MEDITECH EPR in June of this year, noting learnings to share with other trusts, the impacts across the hospitals and the next phase of the programme. The joint go-live with Mid Cheshire NHS Foundation Trust introduced phase one functionality including emergency department, patient administration system, theatres, inpatient and outpatient clinical documentation, and radiology requesting. Inpatient electronic prescribing and medicines administration followed shortly after.
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.
