Digital Health’s monthly roundup of contracts and go lives

This roundup of contracts and go lives is dominated by electronic patient record (EPR) contracts, including for Epic with East Suffolk and North Essex and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS trusts.

East Suffolk and North Essex sign EPR contract with Epic

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust have signed a contract for an electronic patient record with supplier Epic.

Following national approval of the trust’s full business case and ESNEFT Board approval, the contract was signed with Epic this month. The EPR will streamline multiple digital systems used across Ipswich Hospital, Colchester Hospital and five community hospitals in east Suffolk and north Essex, into one single system.

Epic was chosen following a thorough evaluation tender process last year, with a planned go-live date of October 2025.

London’s New Victoria Hospital selects MEDITECH Expanse EPR

New Victoria Hospital in London has selected MEDITECH Expanse as its new electronic patient record (EPR) to advance care delivery and remain competitive in the healthcare market.

The new web-based EPR will provide a more complete and easier-to-navigate digital patient record, while improving efficiencies and enabling better clinical outcomes.

It will allow the organisation to accelerate its implementation timeline with unmatched ease and afford them the freedom to focus its resources on patient care, productivity, and regulatory demands. The secure, cloud-hosted infrastructure is designed to protect systems and their data, providing added peace of mind.

University Hospitals Plymouth selects Epic as preferred EPR supplier

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has selected Epic as its preferred supplier for an electronic patient record system.

The trust, which has a secondary care catchment of around 475,000 people, with a wider peninsula population of almost 2,000,000 people who can access specialist services, has been given the green light from its Board after a rigorous tender process, the trust said in a press release on its website. The decision is subject to contract and national approval of the Full Business Case.

The trust noted that Epic has a “strong track record in collaborating with the NHS”, having worked with many trusts to deliver their EPRs including Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

North of Scotland goes live with electronic medicines management solution

Six NHS health boards across the North of Scotland have gone live with a joint electronic medicines management platform from System C that will enhance clinical decision-making and reduce the risk of prescribing errors.

It marks the first-ever multi-locality deployment of System C’s pharmacy stock control (PSC) and hospital electronic prescribing medicines administration (HEPMA) systems. NHS Grampian, Western Isles, Highland, Tayside, Orkney and Shetland are all replacing paper prescriptions, drug charts and existing medication systems with the new electronic medicines management platform.

Staff at over 66 hospitals, looking after 5,163 beds will now be able to digitally prescribe and manage medicines on the cloud-based system. As a result, the legibility and accuracy of prescriptions will be improved, time spent on transcription will be reduced and more than 25,000 staff will be able to gain remote access to patient medication information.

NHS Mental Health Trust looks to transform digital capabilities with Access Rio EPR

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust have chosen Access Rio EPR to enhance and connect their systems. The trust, who have over 4,500 staff across more than 100 sites, currently use separate health systems.

The Access Rio EPR, already used across over half of UK mental health Trusts, has been chosen to transform the service, connecting acute, GP, community and mental health services. The solution will allow clinicians access to real-time information without the need to log into several systems, streamlining services and reducing time spent on administration.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust chose to partner with Access HSC (Health Support and Care) to implement their electronic patient record as its interoperable capabilities allows the linking together of their many existing suppliers. Rio EPR will connect to the existing community health centre system, ePMA, patient flow system and patient portal, transforming existing processes.

Promptly Health chosen for NHS Wales patient-centred data contract

NHS Wales has selected Promptly Health as its technological partner for a nationwide initiative managing the collection and harmonisation of patient-centred outcomes data.

Promptly Health will deploy a system designed to help improve patient outcomes in Wales, and will ensure that healthcare delivery is both data-driven and patient-focused.

Five companies were initially shortlisted in November 2023, for the £11m National Framework, with Promptly Health ultimately selected in January 2024. The contract will run for three years, with the potential for a two-year extension.