Solent takes TPP for mental health

Solent NHS Trust has chosen TPP’s SystmOne to replace its RiO electronic patient record system in its mental health services, with a phased go-live beginning in May.

Solent tendered for a new system as part of the 2015 Consortium framework, which established in 2012 by 30 NHS trusts and community interest organisations in London and the South who received the RiO EPR as part of the National Programme for IT.

The trust is already using SystmOne across 16 community sites and a walk-in centre, while the system is also used by local GP practices.

Glen Wale, the trust’s head of information systems, said the trust chose SystmOne to address the “real need to close the gap between physical health and mental health” by integrating the patient pathway.

“Using SystmOne will give us an integrated record across care settings allowing healthcare professionals to deliver more personalised and holistic care. We are excited to see the benefits the deployment will bring for patients across Solent.”

A trust spokesperson told EHI News that the main benefits of the EPR for the trust are removing unnecessary duplication and the need to transfer notes to the clinical record at the end of the day and increased staff satisfaction with a “sustainable and reliable” mobile working solution.

The implementation will support the trust’s Working Differently programme to enable more integrated working between community, primary care, family and mental health services, the spokesperson said.

The trust will go live with SystmOne as part of a phased roll out between May and September.

Solent will have around 3,500 staff using the system to manage approximately 1.2 million patient contacts per year.

Peter Gooch, chairman and programme director of the 2015 Consortium, told EHI News in January http://www.ehi.co.uk/news/EHI/9843/rio-30-on-track-and-open-to-nme-trusts that the members of the 2015 Consortium are on track to meet the October deadline for replacing their RiO EPRs.

Gooch said the vast majority of the original member trusts “are just about home and hosed”, having either completed their procurement process and begun deployment, or finishing the final stages of procurement.

He said the framework has been a success for London and the South, with the London Procurement Partnership estimating that it has saved £73 million, compared with the average £9 million cost of providing RiO to each trust under NPfIT.