UH Bristol picks Medway for EPR

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust has selected System C to provide it with a new patient administration and electronic patient record system.

System C will supply the trust with its Medway PAS/EPR product under a seven year deal.

The value of the contract, which includes full data migration, localisation and implementation and support, has not been disclosed.

The new system will replace the trust’s Patient Administration System suite (HP-EDS Swift).

The trust has also purchased Medway departmental systems for A&E, maternity and theatres, the clinical data collection module and the data warehouse and reporting system, Medway Business Intelligence.

System C’s portal product, Medway Connect, will be used to integrate a range of third party and trust-developed applications, including Medicode and Sunquest ICE.

As reported by eHealth Insider in May, University Hospitals Bristol had shortlisted Cerner and System C following a OJEU procurement begun in October 2010.

Stephen Hann, clinical systems programme director for the trust, said: “We chose Medway because we are a large and complex trust and we needed a strategic product that could be configured to meet the needs of all of our users.”

Hann described Medway as “a modern system, built specifically for the NHS." He added: “This is a step-change in PAS and clinical functionality for the trust and will allow us to realise many benefits for patients and staff.”

Hann said that Medway had been the clear choice of “the many hospital staff involved in the evaluation process." He added. “We are now looking forward to working collaboratively with System C’s teams in partnership for many years to come.”

University Hospitals Bristol is one of the largest complex acute NHS trusts in England, and a leading research centre.

With an income last year of £507m, the trust employs over 7,500 people, delivering more than 100 different clinical services from nine hospitals in Bristol.

Dr Ian Denley, System C chief executive, said: “We have spent many years developing the latest .NET Medway product and building the capacity and capability to deploy it in volume.

"Being selected by University Hospitals Bristol is a huge vote of confidence for our people and for Medway.”

Markus Bolton, director of sales and strategy for System C, commented: “We are delighted to have been chosen by University Hospitals Bristol on a project of this size and complexity.”

The EPR deal is the second in a week for System C, which last week was awarded a similar contract by Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. In April, Medway was also selected by The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.

University Hospitals Bristol planned to implement Cerner Millennium under the National Programme for IT in the NHS in 2009, hoping that the benefits of an integrated, national Cerner solution would be realised by 2011.

Neighbouring North Bristol NHS Trust is in the midst of implementing Cerner Millennium, supplied by BT as part of its deal to support ‘live’ Cerner sites and deliver three greenfield Cerner sites in the South of England.

US healthcare giant McKesson, which has 26 NHS trusts in England running legacy PAS products, this week completed its acquisition of System C for £87m.