Luton and Ducnstable Launches EPR System

Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust has announced that it has ‘gone live’ with a new £4 million Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system.

The new EPR system holds electronic records of over of over 650,000 patients, and uses the PiMS patient administration system (PAS) supplied by iSoft. Implementation of the system has taken six months.

Over 2,000 staff at the trust can now benefit from fast and easy access to patient records, appointments and case notes. Patients are also set to benefit, enjoying greater choice when making outpatient appointments and receiving clearer confirmatory appointment letters.

The new system is part of a 10-year contract with healthcare information technology firm iSOFT that provides the Trust with a robust technical foundation to take advantage of the latest technologies, and which will provide compliance with emerging government standards.

Now the new PAS system has been implemented, iSoft will work with the trust to help it achieve a level three EPR.

Luton & Dunstable’s Chief Executive, Stephen Ramsden, said: “This ambitious modernisation project provides the foundation for links to other record systems such as X-Ray, Pathology, Accident & Emergency and Maternity, so ensuring that information needed for patient care is more quickly and readily available to our medical and administrative staff”.

Charles Lilley, iSoft director of operations, said a key to the successful implementation has been the effective working relationship built up between the trust and iSoft, which enabled the system to be delivered on-time and to budget. "Both iSoft and the trust have invested a lot of time and effort in the relationship," Lilley told Medexonline.

“We started on the basis that the trust wasn’t looking for a poacher-gamekeeper relationship,” Lilley explained. "Two key elements are that IT must be at the top of the agenda across the organization and there must be mature relationships."

iSOFT chief operating officer Steve Graham added, “By employing the latest technology, Luton & Dunstable is delivering benefits to its staff and patients while providing a sound foundation for future developments." Further development of the EPR project will include its expansion to provide combined information between secondary and primary care.