Northampton General Hospital signs Nervecentre EPR contract

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust (NGH) has signed a 10-year contract with Nervecentre to implement its electronic patient record (EPR) system.

Thee cloud-based EPR is aimed to help the trust digitalise healthcare services and enhance care for patients and staff by giving clinicians access to real-time medical records to support clinical decision making.

It is also intended to enable teams to access information on mobile technology and reduce the use of paper.

Hemant Nemade, medical director at University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, said: “The Nervecentre EPR will give our clinicians the tools to provide our patients with the right care at the right time, every time. 

“Not only will this digital transformation help to improve the lives of both our patients and staff, but it will also see us deliver care in a more environmentally sustainable way and enhance our ability to collaborate with healthcare partners in the East Midlands and beyond.”

NGH and Nervecentre signed a contract following a competitive tender process and the allocation of funding for the system from NHS England in May 2024.

NHS England is providing £1.9 billion to NHS trusts to ensure they all meet a core level of digitisation and have EPR systems in place.

This investment in digitising the frontline is planned to ensure that health and care staff have access to health-related information, supporting them to deliver care efficiently, effectively and safely, reducing variation and improving outcomes. 

Paul Volkaerts, chief executive at Nervecentre said: “We’re delighted to welcome NGH to the growing Nervecentre EPR community.

“This move not only improves safety and efficiency at NGH but also paves the way for truly transformative regional collaboration”.

Nottingham University Hospitals, Chesterfield Royal Hospital and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS trusts also signed multi-year EPR contracts with Nervecentre in 2024.

These trusts, along with others in the region using Nervecentre software, will join the same EPR platform, allowing data to be exchanged securely between the hospitals whilst respecting localised record-sharing preferences.

Meanwhile, NHS Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative announced in July 2024 it has signed a deal with Meditech worth £88 million for an EPR system.

Other trusts to announce new EPRs include University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, which went live with an EPR from Oracle in June 2024, and the Acute Hospital Alliance which announced plans to implement a shared Oracle EPR across three trusts in the south west of England in 2026.