NOC still having Millennium problems 18 months on

Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) NHS Trust has told E-Health Insider that a year and a half after going live with the Cerner Millennium Release Zero (R0) patient administration system, the system ‘is still presenting problems’ including the system not being Choose and Book compliant.

In board papers seen by EHI, the Oxford trust says that there are continuing issues relating to the performance standards of the Millennium R0 PAS.

They add: “There is also an issue of CRS not currently being compliant to help to fulfil the directly bookable services target for the end of March. It was confirmed that the chief executive had contacted the SHA (strategic health authority) to confirm the assessment that this meant the trust would be exempt from the target. ”

It is not the first time that the NOC has missed targets due to problems experienced with their new PAS.

Last October, the trust was rated as ‘weak’ by the Healthcare Commission, a rating they blamed on being one of the first Southern cluster sites to receive Millenium R0.

When EHI contacted the trust to see what progress had been made since this target was missed, the trust said they did not anticipate any progress until the summer, with testing completed by the autumn at the earliest.

In a statement a trust spokesperson said: “The Care Record Service that the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust implemented in December 2005 was the Release 0. In order for the NOC’s CRS to be Choose and Book compatible, the NOC system must first acquire a system upgrade which would enable directly bookable functionality: this upgrade is not due to be installed until later this summer.

“In accordance with Department of Health requirements, following a successful system upgrade, the NOC will have three months in which the system can be tested and made available for NOC services to be booked at point of referral. Service partners, including GPs, PCTs and other hospitals, will be advised when this functionality is brought on line.”

The board papers also record the trust’s understanding that Milton Keynes – another R0 site – is experiencing similar problems with Choose and Book functionality.

A Milton Keynes spokesperson confirmed to EHI that the Millenium R0 was not Choose and Book compatible at this stage, but they were happy to wait for the functionality to be added and could not see any problems with not having the system in place at the current time.

In a statement, Fujitsu, local service provider of the Southern cluster told EHI: “Choose and Book functionality does exist within Cerner Millennium and Fujitsu Services is currently working with the trusts already deployed to formulate plans. Choose and Book is now available across the country and as part of the wider National Programme for IT. Take up of the service is increasing each month.”

NOC says that despite not having the functionality, patients are still able to exercise their right to choice.

“Patients who have been referred for treatment already have the ability to contact their provider of choice and make an appointment that best suits their needs. The NOC has been able to facilitate this practice for some time now with good feedback from those taking the option to be treated here.”

Implementations across the South have been held up so that Fujtsu and Cerner can learn lessons from the problems with NOC’s implementation. According to Connecting for Health deployment figures to 1 May, the LSP has now delivered eight systems in the cluster.

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Nuffield blames ‘weak’ HC rating on computer problems