Trust reverses £65m EPR procurement decision after court claim

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has withdrawn its decision to award a £65 million electronic patient record (EPR) contract following a legal challenge.

The trust previously told Digital Health News that it planned to file a “robust defence” against a claim lodged in the High Court by incumbent EPR supplier System C in August 2024, over the way that competing bids for the EPR system contract were evaluated.

System C alleged that the procurement process favoured the winning bidder, a partnership between Insight Direct and Altera Digital Health.

A spokesperson for Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust told Digital Health News: “On 16 August 2024, a claim was issued by an unsuccessful tenderer challenging the award decision notified to bidders on 30 July 2024.

“The trust does not consider that the claim is well-founded. However, rather than face the significant cost, disruption and distraction of litigation, and the resulting impact on the delivery of services to patients, the trust has decided to withdraw the award decision.

“The trust will now seek to make a decision as to how best to proceed with this important system procurement and will provide an update once a decision has been made.”

They added that the trust is not able to offer further comment because legal proceedings have not yet formally concluded.

In High Court papers, System C claimed that Mersey and West Lancashire changed the award criteria, or used undisclosed criteria, after launching the competitive process and before announcing the preferred bidder had won.

A spokesperson for System C said: “We are pleased that Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust have halted their procurement.

“Our aim is always to support a fair procurement process for all parties due to the significant costs involved, and the importance of making the right decisions on spending NHS monies to achieve the desired outcomes.

“As an existing customer, we continue to work with Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust and remain as focused as ever in helping them achieve their digital transformation objectives.”

A spokesperson for Altera said: “Altera is disappointed to learn of Mersey and West Lancashire Trust’s decision to cancel its current EPR procurement.  We look forward to responding to any further EPR procurements that are announced in the future.”