RNOH to implement TPP e-prescribing

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust has signed a contract with TPP for its e-prescribing and e-discharge systems, with plans to roll it out by the end of the year.

The trust's director of IM&T, Saroj Patel, told EHI the deal with TPP is part of its “best of breed” approach to IT based around a clinical portal.

Patel said the trust undertook a full OJEU procurement for an e-prescribing system to ensure it got the best system available.

She acknowledged that TPP’s systems are not widely used in the acute sector, but said the trust chose it as it had “the best depth of clinical functionality” for electronic prescribing and medicines administration.

“We needed something that could be rolled out in the HDU [high dependency unit], and TPP is one of the only solutions that allows it.”

Patel said the system will also allow the trust to remove all paper as far as its drug charts are concerned, while helping to streamline its medicines management for the admissions and discharges of patients.

The company’s “large footprint” in primary care will also make it easier to bring in drug information directly from a GP practice using TPP’s SystmOne, she added.

“It will save junior doctors a whole lot of time, and make it a lot safer because they won’t be having to re-input data.”

Patel said the e-prescribing system will eventually be integrated into the clinical portal once it is put in place.

The trust went out to tender for the portal in October last year, stating that it should “allow staff to see all electronic information about patients within a single system that would aggregate the data from all other systems” and external health and social care providers in England which refer patients to the trust’s services.

Patel said it intends to choose a supplier this month, with the contract worth £1.3 million over seven years.

The trust is planning to roll out the e-prescribing system quickly to avoid the problems of a “mixed economy” of systems, with a pilot set to take place in March and plans to roll it out across the trust by the end of the year.

Rob Hurd, the trust’s chief executive, said the new e-prescribing system will be “a crucial part of delivering the very best patient experience.”

“It’s a very exciting step into the future and I’m confident that the combined expertise of the [trust] and TPP will ensure we continue to be a worldwide leader in orthopaedic medicine.”

The trust operates the largest specialist orthopaedic hospital in the UK, with 13 wards and more than 200 inpatient beds.

Dr John Parry, clinical director of TPP, said the trust “offers a great opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of TPP SystmOne hospital e-prescribing.”

“The hospital operates at the forefront of orthopaedic care and we look forward to working with them to show the benefits.”