Nottingham latest System C win

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has confirmed that it has awarded a patient administration system contract to System C, a McKesson company.

The trust is one of more than 20 still running McKesson legacy systems because of delays to the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

The Department of Health signed a support deal with the company for trusts running Totalcare and Star that is due to expire in 2014.

Andrew Fearn, director of ICT at the trust, said in a statement: “We are pleased to confirm System C, a McKesson company, as our preferred bidder to supply and implement a new PAS across our hospitals.

“The development will significantly improve the way we administer information about our patients, helping us to provide a higher quality service.

“It will enable us to communicate more effectively with our patients, with text message reminders for appointments, and speed up care and reduce waits with the introduction of more self check-in kiosks for our hospitals.”

Fearn added that the trust was looking at a ten to 15 year contract with the company, and to building a “long-term relationship” that would keep it at “the cutting edge of healthcare ICT.”

The trust has already deployed System C’s Medway Maternity system in both Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Centre.

Nottingham University Hospitals went out to tender for a new PAS as the foundation for an electronic patient record 12 months ago.

EHealth Insider understands that a number of companies were shortlisted for the deal, including Agfa with its Orbis product.

System C, a McKesson company, has done well recently among trusts looking for PAS replacements and PAS-Plus projects.

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust went live over the weekend with its new Medway PAS, and is now extending its use to outpatients and further wards.

A full contract will be signed at Nottingham this summer, and deployment is expected to start in September, with a go-live next autumn.