Leicester second trust with iSoft ePMA

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has become the second in the UK to go live with iSoft’s electronic prescribing system as it works towards implementing a full end-to-end electronic patient record.

In June the trust signed a contract with iSoft, a CSC company, to allow it to implement the electronic prescribing system (ePMA) and the company’s Pharmacy system.

The trust has been working for five months to get the two up and running to provide a full system that covers stock control and dispensing in the bone and marrow transplant unit, oncology and haematology wards.

The trust’s associate medical director, Beverly Collett, said it is anticipated that electronic prescribing will reduce the risk of adverse interactions and clinical errors.

“Given the sheer volume and complexity of drug information, it is impossible for prescribers to recall all of the potential interactions and their clinical significance.

“[The system] will support our clinical teams by improving communication and clarity of information, while reducing process complexities that can introduce clinical risk.”

Leicester’s go live with iSoft's ePMA follows its implementation at Pennine Acute Hospital NHS Trust, which was the first trust in the UK to go live with the system last month.

Both trusts are planning to carry out pilots, before expanding the roll-out across more wards. Stockport NHS Foundation Trust is on track to become the third site to go live and is hoping to launch the system in February.

Leicester’s launch of electronic prescribing is a first step towards improving and modernising the trust's IM&T, which has been outlined in a new IM&T strategy.

The strategy states the trust is looking to secure a ‘technology partner’ to guide the trust from its current 'best of breed' approach to deploying a full, enterprise-wide electronic patient record.

It says the trust’s level of investment in IT is behind other hospitals, and it has been playing a game of ‘catch-up’.

Aligning with a commercial partner would enable the trust to leverage the company’s varied and worldwide resources and “allow the trust to accelerate [its] pace of ‘catch up’ to truly exploit its services and infrastructure", the strategy says.

The trust is currently running a 30 year old iSoft CLINiCOM patient administration system with more than 100 disparate supported systems and several hundred unsupported systems.

The strategy states this best of breed approach “exposes UHL, our clinicians and patients to significant clinical, information governance and commercial/business risk.”

It says moving to a single integrated electronic patient record with the minimum of specialist stand-alone systems linked to it as possible is the best option.

“An enterprise wide EPR offers, we believe, the most robust solutions to meet our needs into the future.”

It is planning to have the new EPR go live in April 2016, and has begun preparing for the change to an end-to-end system by setting out three ‘early steps’, one of which is rolling out electronic prescribing.

The trust will also look to develop a clinical portal and an electronic document and records management system by 2014.

In terms of the commercial partner hoped to guide the trust through the process, the strategy states this would most likely be a leading US or European player.