‘iSoft7’ hospitals extend EPR contracts

Six of the ‘iSoft7’ NHS trusts that retained their iSoft systems rather than enter the National Programme for IT have extended their contracts with CSC to cover the procurement and implementation of new electronic patient records.

Just three of the trusts have already chosen a new provider. Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has switched to Cerner Millennium; King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will implement Allscripts’ Sunrise; and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust has chosen to deploy CSC’s Lorenzo.

The remaining trusts are either out to procurement for a replacement system, or plan to do so in the near future.

The group of seven trusts signed a four-year, £25 million extension to their contracts with CSC in March 2012, which expires this month. All use iSoft Patient Manager and four also use iSoft Clinical Manager.

CSC and iSoft first signed a deal in 2006 to cover the ‘out of cluster’ trusts, enabling them stay with their existing systems instead of moving to Cerner Millennium, the strategic EPR for London and the South under NPfIT.

Salisbury is the only trust so far that has chosen to stick with CSC long-term by taking its newer Lorenzo EPR. Salisbury picked CSC as its preferred bidder in August 2015 and a trust spokesperson has told Digital Health News that a contract signing with the company is “imminent”.

The first phase of its go-live is scheduled for the end of this October and the second phase is planned for the Summer in 2017. The trust has agreed a contract extension for iPM to cover the period until Lorenzo goes live.

King’s College Hospital plans to go-live with Allscripts at its Denmark Hill site around June this year and the Princess Royal University Hospital in July or August. The trust is initially deploying the Sunrise clinical modules and will continue to use the iSoft patient administration system.

The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust switched on its new Cerner Millennium EPR in July 2015. Following several delays to the go-live, it deployed a new patient administration system, with eDischarge, maternity, theatres, TTAs and eVTE assessment. 

Both Great Ormond Street and Plymouth Hospitals have extended their CSC contracts while they procure new systems. Great Ormond Street went out to procurement last month for a full EPR, worth up to £50 million over 20 years. 

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust issued a prior information notice regarding a replacement EPR in February 2015 and told Digital Health News late last year that it planned to go to full tender once its outline business case was approved

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust have both signed three-year extensions to continue using their iSoft systems while they plan new procurements.

Guy’s has an outline business case waiting to be approved that would see it go to tender for an EPR in the next six to 12 months, but this will be an iterative approach, rather than a ‘big bang’ replacement.