System C to deliver integrated EPR for North Bristol NHS Trust

System C Healthcare has been selected for North Bristol NHS Trust’s £24.6m electronic patient record (EPR) contract, Digital Health News can confirm.

Data from Digital Health Intelligence indicates that North Bristol NHS Trust assigned System C to deliver an integrated, enterprise-wide EPR solution on 10 December.

The contract also includes the supply of professional services to project manage and implement the solution, alongside and the provision of relevant software licenses.

Digital Health News understands the agreement was concluded without a prior contract notice due to technical reasons. The trust currently uses a DXC Lorenzo EPR system.

North Bristol NHS was the first trust in the south of England to go live with Lorenzo in November 2015.

Lorenzo was one of the first EPRs to go live under the National Programme for IT, but planned deployments ran into repeated development delays.

Prior to 2015, North Bristol NHS Trust was a user of Cerner Millennium.

On 9 January, North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) confirmed its intention to replace its current patient administration system and create a new electronic patient record.

A spokesperson told Digital Health News that the trust was seeking a system that would meet current and future operational requirements, moving towards a convergence of systems with University Hospital Bristol and Weston Area Health Trust.

The move was described as “a cornerstone of the trust’s long-term digital strategy,” which was launched in 2018.

The spokesperson told Digital Health News: “From the outset, NBT have been clear that any new solution must remove the current disparate and disconnected arrangements, and instead replace them with an interoperable solution where data can be shared seamlessly and presented in a cohesive way.

“The direct award of a contract from the HSS framework will enable the trust to deliver on its digital strategy within the required timescales and regional expectations.

“Given the scale and significance of the change, all efforts are being made from the outset to involve clinicians. The project is being chaired by a senior ED Consultant, and trust staff have been invited to contribute to ensure any future solution meets the trust’s patient care requirements.”

A tender notice for the £24.6m contract details the requirements of the EPR solution, which cover patient administration including registration, in-patient care, waiting lists, out-patients, note tracking, bed management, clinical data collection and operational and management reporting.

Other clinical requirements outlined in the agreement comprise order communications, results reporting, electronic prescribing and medicines administration, clinical documentation, nursing documentation and observations.

Integrated functionality capable of managing clinical and administrative aspects of emergency care, theatre management functionality and maternity patient records are also a prerequisite.