UCLH signs deal with Epic for electronic health records system

Botched Epic implementation blamed for helping put Cambridge NHS Hospitals Trust into 'special measures' back in 2015

University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) has signed a deal with US software company Epic Systems Corporation for a new electronic healthcare records system.

The Trust will work with Epic to design, build and implement the new system as part of a wider clinical transformation, research and interoperability programme. It will also work closely with other NHS organisations on various aspects of Epic implementation.

UCLH hopes that the new platform will provide a single, integrated electronic clinical record to support the delivery of patient care and research. Relevant patient information is set to be accessible from one place, and UCLH is hopeful that this will further improve patient safety and healthcare.

In addition, the Trust is working on a portal for patients so that they can access their own data and communicate with the Trust's care team.

"This is a much needed investment for UCLH," said Professor Marcel Levi, UCLH chief executive.

"After a detailed and extensive procurement process, we have now agreed the best way forward to continuously improve patient safety, improve interdisciplinary quality of care, and make communication between patients and their health care providers easier. We will work with clinicians, operational staff and patients to ensure we create a system that works for everyone," he added.

Levi said that the system will also enable the exchange of information between different healthcare providers such as GPs and other hospitals.

The decision to choose Epic as a supplier is an interesting one; two years ago Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was put into "special measures" by health regulator Monitor, after over-spending an average of £1.2m a week, in part due to an online patient-record system provided by Epic.

Addenbrooke's and Rosie hospitals in Cambridge, which are part of the Trust, had reportedly spent as much as £200m on the e-Hospital system. A spokesperson from Addenbrooke's Hospital told Computing that the e-Hospital system did cost £200m, but over a 10 year period.

"£60m is Epic and £140m is the infrastructure - computers, Wi-Fi, handheld devices. The cost of keeping the old system - 12 different ones - would have cost in excess of £10m a year," the spokesperson said at the time.

However, the real issues with the system became clear when a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report was published. It found that the Epic system had caused confusion among staff, particularly as they did not know how to deal with remaining paper records, which could not be stored in Epic.

The CQC found that Epic had also been producing inaccurate discharge information, had issues with producing up-to-date information, and had a detrimental effect on staff, with three employees telling CQC that they "felt bullied after raising concerns about patient safety".

However, in January, a CQC report found that modifications made by Epic in the system had helped to pull Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust out of special measures.

For UCLH, the new system will be the final major piece of its digital transformation strategy, which has also seen Atos appointed as foundational ICT partner and TeleTracking Technologies as patient flow and equipment tracking partner for the Trust's new Coordination Centre Programme.