Norfolk and Waveney delays EPR to ‘take extra time to get it right’

The go-live of an £88 million electronic patient record (EPR) system has been delayed to ensure that they “get it right”, said Ed Prosser-Snelling, interim group director of digital at Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group.

In August 2023, the Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative selected US firm Meditech to supply its Expanse EPR system and a deal was signed in July 2024.

The EPR is intended to enhance patient experience and improve the flow of information between the group’s three acute hospital trusts: Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Deployment was planned for in March 2026, but Prosser-Snelling told Digital Health News that it has now been pushed forward to spring 2027.

“It’s not unusual to see EPR delays and particularly because the Meditech Expanse product is new to the English NHS and we are a large and complex deployment.

“We want to make sure we get it right – that’s the bottom line.

The go-live is the bit that everyone gets very interested in because obviously that’s the Big Bang, the excitement and the fireworks

“We looked at putting ourselves under pressure to deliver in autumn 2026 and decided that just wasn’t practical and wouldn’t fulfil the requirements we’ve set ourselves.

“The go-live is the bit that everyone gets very interested in because obviously that’s the Big Bang, the excitement and the fireworks, but what’s really important is that the long-term delivery of the product is locally owned, doesn’t cause any disruption, and delivers the benefits that it sets out to,” he said.

Prosser-Snelling said that the general election in July 2024 initially set back the the EPR by around four months “because the contracts couldn’t be awarded during the period of sensitivity”.

Also he said that the collaborative is “spending and investing an awful lot of time working closely with Meditech” to adapt the EPR and ensure it meets statutory reporting requirements standards and will enhance the operational delivery of care.

“It’s the fact that it’s a translation process – which you saw previously with Epic when they were in this position – that is taking the extra time.

“I think other elements have been reflecting on the requirement not to lose any reporting — which is absolutely correct and we fully agree with it — and also that there should be absolutely minimal or no loss of clinical activity and no risk to urgent and emergency care during go lives,” he said.

In November, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust declared a critical incident following the go-live of Nervecentre EPR coincided with sustained pressures in the Emergency Department and across the trust.

What’s really important is that the long-term delivery of the product is locally owned, doesn’t cause any disruption, and delivers the benefits that it sets out to

Prosser-Snelling said that studies have suggested that some trusts have seen up to 20% loss of clinical activity during their EPR go-lives.

“We want to take extra time to make sure that we get it exactly right.

“Bearing in mind that this is a the scope of this programme is 12 years, we want to make sure that we we’re delivering exactly what we what we want to do and make sure we’re not disrupting the hospital score activity, because ultimately the success of any IT project is measured by its ability to benefit the business and that’s what we’re here to do,” he explained.

The collaborative now hopes to add further value into the business case to offset any increased costs as a result of a longer running so it can maintain a benefit-to-cost ratio similar to the original levels set out.

“Even in the short time since 2024, we’ve seen ambient voice technology, artificial intelligence and agentic AI come forward. Meditech have got developments in those areas,” Prosser-Snelling said.

He added that the region, which has been dubbed ‘the digital desert’  has seen progress with electronic document management systems running across its three hospital sites, but ultimately needs an EPR to move forward in terms of digital maturity.

Everybody is lined up and committed to to making sure that Norfolk gets out of this 25 year EPR drought that we’ve had

“I think we’re at the point where we’ve got to plan to reverse the desertification.

“We’ve got the shrubs in the ground, we just need to keep watering them and make sure that we follow through with that process.

“The support and encouragement we’re receiving both in the frontline digitisation programme from NHS England, from the region and from the ICB is phenomenal and everybody is lined up and committed to to making sure that Norfolk gets out of this 25 year EPR drought that we’ve had.”

All three trusts are also participating in ambient voice technology pilots, looking to accelerate progress with the federated data platform instances and planning to implement a programme of enterprise architecture.

“We’ve planted in the desert and that’s going to involve not just changing the way in which we’re delivering the technology, but also creating centres of excellence around cybersecurity, business intelligence and all the other areas you’d expect to find in a high-performing digital team,” Prosser-Snelling said.