Last legacy McKesson site picks Medway

Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust is the last of 26 trusts running legacy McKesson Totalcare or Star systems to pick a new supplier.

The trust has chosen Medway as its replacement electronic patient record system.

It is number 12 of the 26 trusts running legacy McKesson systems to choose the Medway PAS from System C, also a McKesson company.

The support contract for Totalcare and Star expires in March 2014, but EHI reported earlier this month that trusts signing up to take Medway as their replacement system, would be provided with limited support from McKesson past the deadline if needed.

Damian Reid, deputy chief executive and director of finance at the trust, told EHI that the trust would need the extended support from McKesson as it will not manage to go-live with the new system by the March deadline.

“Installation will take place between January and September next year with go-live scheduled for the autumn,” he said.

“The new EPR replaces a 23-year-old system, also supplied by McKesson, which the company will continue to support until the new system goes live.”

Southport and Ormskirk runs two district hospitals as well as many community sites. Reid said the system will improve integrated care at the trust.

“The deal is vital to the continuity of our business, improving the accuracy and quality of our patient records, which will enhance patient safety and will underpin the development of our trust as an integrated care organisation,” he said.

Of the 12 trusts that have chosen the Medway PAS, only one, Whittington Health, has so far gone live.

EHI reported earlier this year that several trusts have had to delay their go-live of the system.

One of these is Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, which is taking the Medway PAS as part of a larger System C portal project.

The trust originally planned to go live in April this year, but then postponed the implementation to October, and then again to spring 2014.

The trust’s finance director, Mike Baker, told EHI at the time that “rather than go live with 99 per cent confidence, we have taken the decision to delay go-live until we are 100 per cent confident the system will work faultlessly.”

“Taking into account the impending winter pressures, go-live is not likely to happen until March/April,” he said.

Other Totalcare and Star sites that have chosen Medway are: Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust; Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust; United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust.

McKesson UK is currently up for sale, which is due to be finalised by the end of this year.