A year-end overview of delivery and progress against strategy and ambitions at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust has highlighted work done on EPR, EPMA, and wider digital infrastructure.
Digital foundations have been upgraded, the trust notes, with WiFi and connectivity improved, digital functionality around inpatients and care planning delivered, and Power BI dashboards now live and embedded.
Medicines optimisation has been improved with the progression of EPMA roll out and medicines management training, Pennine Care states, with further EPMA implementations scheduled for Q1 2026/27, and a clinician-led support model being used to keep patients safe during the transition from paper. In 2025-26, 300 inpatient beds across 21 wards were transferred, with 772 users trained by digital teams.
The CLEO electronic prescribing system for outpatients progressed from initial planning to an April 2026 go-live, the trust continues, and work is underway on the development of interoperable digital solutions to support multidisciplinary and agency working under the adult community transformation programme.
In an improvement report for Q4, covering January to March 2026, the board shares details of a partnership with DrDoctor to enable appointment notifications through the NHS App, allowing patients to access care information, receive digital communications, and complete forms online.
Key priorities for 2026/27 include developing a full business case for a new EPR and the full roll out of electronic prescribing, according to the trust. A joint digital and data strategy to 2031 with Greater Manchester Mental Health published earlier this year highlighted the implementation of a new EPR as “essential” in achieving digital maturity and underpinning strategic priorities, with both current EPR contracts due to expire in 2028 with the potential to extend to 2030.
A joint EPR transformational programme has been established across both organisations, with recruitment having commenced into a central transformation team, and an EPR strategic outline case due to be published in preparation for outline and full business cases in 2026/27. Design and build is set to take place from February 2027, and deployment is estimated to begin in February 2029.
Wider trend: Digital progress at NHS Trusts
The board of University Hospitals Dorset has shared a series of updates around its HealthSet EPR programme and wider digital priorities. With a contract signed in March 2026 with Epic, the HealthSet programme is now underway, with core implementation activity reportedly to begin in late summer 2026, and a “big bang” go-live scheduled for April 2028. Preparation activities have included “lessons learned” engagement with a number of other organisations who have already implemented Epic, and a stakeholder visit to Epic’s UK headquarters in early May 2026.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is progressing with its EPR programme, noting the beginning of clinical validation workshops and workforce engagement initiatives. The CCIO of Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust has taken to LinkedIn to share an update on progress toward the trust’s scheduled 2027 go-live of the Rio EPR system. Referring to the week as a “pivotal” one in the journey toward go-live, Venkatesh Muthukrishnan, CCIO, shared that it marks the beginning of clinical validation workshops which will see clinicians coming together to inform the development of the system.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has shared the latest on its Future Christie programmes and work to procure a new EPR, with an outline business case considering options. A full EPR business case is now expected in Q3 2026, according to the trust board, with the commercial case and route to procurement being finalised in consultation with legal advisers, the trust procurement team, and NHS England, to ensure compliance with legislation and regulatory requirements. Work is also underway on its financial model, and on a detailed review of operational and governance arrangements following confirmation of a partner. “Finalisation of the commercial case and identification of the route to procurement will be the principal drivers to the project timeline,” the board states. “Indicative timescale for a framework procurement exercise is 12-14 months.”
