HSCIC green lights Lorenzo

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust has been given the go-ahead to purchase Lorenzo by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

George Eliot, which has been approved to take CSC’s electronic patient record system under a revised agreement between the company and the Department of Health, will receive central funding for service and deployment costs of the system.

An HSCIC spokesperson confirmed that the centre is managing the CSC contract on behalf of the DH.

George Eliot’s Lorenzo Programme Board minutes, obtained by EHI under the Freedom of Information Act, says that the HSCIC has given authority to issue the purchase order to CSC.

“What this now means is that funding is now formally available to the trust, and that funds can be drawn down against actual expenditure incurred,” the May programme board minutes say.

“An invoice will be submitted to HSCIC on a monthly basis within the terms of the Lorenzo memorandum of understanding.”

At a recent Public Accounts Committee meeting, it was revealed that £600m has been set aside for NME trusts choosing to take Lorenzo under the new contract.

While the contracts are owned by the DH, the HSCIC is managing them and the funding.

George Eliot is one of eight trusts to confirm it wants to take the Lorenzo EPR under the revised DH deal and plans to go live with the system in March 2014.

Trusts wishing to take Lorenzo must submit a business case to the LSP CSC Programme Board, chaired by the senior responsible owner for the LSP programme, Tim Donohoe.

The George Eliot board minutes say the trust will need to submit a second business case to the programme board to show it is prepared for when the central funding stops.

“There is a requirement for a supplementary business case to be prepared that considers the options available to provide an EPR to George Eliot Hospital once central funding ends at the end of year six,” say the minutes.