South London hospital trusts to implement a joint Cerner EPR

The two trusts within the St George’s and Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Group have partnered with Cerner to provide a shared electronic patient record (EPR) system.

The shared system will allow clinical teams to access patient hospital information and records, irrespective of where care is provided across the group.

It also enables more effective working with health and care partners including neighbouring hospitals, with the potential for benefits to be scaled across the south west London integrated care system.

While Cerner has been in use at St George’s and Queen Mary hospitals since 2013, the system will now be extended to Epsom and St Helier.

It will replace the dated clinical and administrative systems currently in place at Epsom and St Helier and is the largest scale digital project the two trusts, who serve a population of approximately 2.5million people across four sites, have rolled out since becoming a group in August 2021.

Jacqueline Totterdell, group chief executive, said: “We are committed to providing outstanding care so advancing our digital capabilities in this way, for the benefit of our patients, is a significant step towards achieving this.

“One of the greatest benefits of being a hospital group is that it offers the opportunity to share resources and collaboratively redesign pathways to deliver the highest possible quality of care to the populations we serve in a way that is efficient and effective for both staff and patients.”

The Epsom and St Helier contract was awarded to Cerner after a competitive process and is supported by a new contract between St George’s and Cerner that reflects the ongoing development plan which has been in place at St George’s with the benefits of wider clinical delivery.

Peter Davies, group chief digital officer, said: “This is a really positive step that will make a difference to the quality of care we provide, particularly as those using health and care services require ever-more joined up care to meet their needs.

“Anyone who has been transferred between hospitals or referred onto a different service in another organisation will know that, up until now, you have to go over your medical history a number of times.

“This will be happening a lot less frequently, which is great news for our patients and we’re proud to be making such a significant investment into a vital part of the service we provide.”

This is the latest venture for Cerner as their presence within the digital health sector continues to grow. Back in December, they were acquired by Oracle in a deal worth around £22.4billion, handing them an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate their work and transform healthcare delivery.