Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to drop Lorenzo in 2020

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will cease to be a Lorenzo trust in 2020, after signing with System C as its new EPR supplier.

Under the new contract, System C will supply a patient administration system (PAS), emergency and maternity department software, a clinical communication and collaboration platform, electronic prescribing, order communications, results reporting and business intelligence.

The value of the contract was not disclosed, and a precise go-live date has yet to be formalised, a spokesperson said.

“After a broad procurement process, we investigated all the available solutions to find the one that best fit the needs of Barnsley Hospital and local health communities,” they told Digital Health News.

Barnsley Hospital has been running Lorenzo for just three and a half years, after deploying DXC Technology’s EPR (electronic patient record) in November 2014.

The deployment created a significant shake-up at the trust, with then-CEO Diane Wake commenting at the time that the implementation had “not been completely painless”.

It was approved under the tail-end of NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), under which DXC – then CSC – was the local service provider for the North, Midlands and East of England.

The first nine trusts to take Lorenzo under the agreement were supported by an incentive fund from CSC up to a value of £1 million per trust.

In a press release, Barnsley Hospital said the new electronic patient record (EPR) supplied by System C would improve confidence in information sharing and enable better planning for health and care services within Barnsley.

Medical director Simon Enright called the deal “a major step forwards for patient safety and e-prescribing.”

According to data from Digital Health Intelligence, DXC still has the largest EPR market share in the old NHS NPfIT north of England region, standing at 15%.

Barnsley Hospital said it selected System C as part of its “commitment to providing the best care and safety for patients and working practices for staff.”

It said the new EPR would provide “much improved information” to ensure that “tests, monitoring and care are at their best”, while enabling staff to closely monitor all aspects of patients’ care.

Trust CEO Richard Jenkins added: “It’s vital that Barnsley Hospital staff have the best IT systems to help deliver outstanding healthcare and so I’m delighted that the trust has procured the System C electronic patient record.”