University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust has highlighted “significant advancements” in its digital transformation initiatives this quarter, including EPMA deployment, AI pilots, and the rollout of BadgerNet EPR.
The BadgerNet EPR was launched in November, to be used moving forward for all medical and nursing documentation including observations, medical ward rounds, procedures, and communication with family or social services. “Having a digital, paper-lite system means more accurate and complete records, which supports safer, higher-quality care for our babies and families,” UHNM shares. “It also brings many practical benefits, including remote access to notes and historical information, fewer lost or misplaced records, reduced printing costs, easier transfer of records to other hospitals and the ability for multiple members of our large multi-disciplinary team to document at the same time.”
An EPMA pilot has been completed and rollout is expected to be finished by the end of the year, the trust notes, highlighting the programme as “a major milestone in our efforts to enhance medication safety and efficiency”. A picture archiving and communication system reporting project is also listed as successfully completed, helping to support streamlined radiology reporting across the organisation.
AI pilots are underway in the emergency department and in respiratory (sleep) units, according to the trust, with the aim of leveraging AI technology to improve patient care and outcomes. It also offers an update on the large language data validation of waiting lists to be delivered via MBI, which has now become “business as usual, with artificial intelligence being utilised to continually revalidate lists”.
Other updates include that an EPR business case has been approved and submitted to the region, an ongoing capital programme engagement is underway to secure funds to replace out-of-support hardware and software, a device lifecycle management business case has been approved, digital pathology scanning capacity has been expanded, an information asset register has been developed with assigned information asset owners, and a LIMS and order comms results and reporting system has been completed.
An AI intelligence team has been established, frontline digitisation investment has been approved, and a West Midlands Imaging Network outline business case has been approved. The trust also shares that a regional cyber security operations centre is now live with over 450 servers reporting to the security information and event management system.
By March 2026, the trust plans to introduce a new governance structure “holding Care Groups to account for Shadow IT, which does not meet NHS digital standards”. It is reportedly considering the use of AI-based coding solutions, pending approval.
Wider trend: Trust digital transformation
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has shared updates on phase one go-live of its EPR programme and a revised EPR milestone plan to the end of 2026 and beyond. Phase one covered the replacement of the trust’s patient administration system for acute and community services, as well as the emergency department patient first system and theatre management system. Looking ahead to 2026, Royal Wolverhampton sets out a roadmap, looking to conduct a post implementation review in March, to introduce CAS cards in ED from April, and to complete clinical EPR for inpatients by December.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust has published updates on its digital and innovation work, outlining use cases of AI, ambient voice technology, and robotic process automation. On innovation the trust is utilising AI in developing models for predicting non-attendance and length of stay, with a dynamic dashboard also developed to report on survival, toxicity, and 30-day mortality. AVT is being piloted by the trust’s digital team, and The Clatterbridge has committed to getting involved in a regional pilot.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has shared updates on its Frontline Digitisation programme, including key work on patient records, EMIS rollout, and EPMA. The rollout of EPMA is underway, with implementation in mental health inpatient wards to be followed by outpatients and community inpatients. A programme of system interoperability via the trust’s integration engine and shared care records is planned to ensure the right data is available to clinical teams, and network improvements, devices, and infrastructure are all listed as “critical enablers” to delivery. Oxford Health also looks to achieve level four digital maturity on the What Good Looks Like framework, and to finish delivering its current digital strategy which is due to be refreshed in 2026.
