Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Awards Strategic IT Contract to System C.

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has embarked on a major two-year project to transform the way it uses digital technology to benefit patients and improve work practices.

The Trust has announced it will be rolling-out a raft of integrated clinical, business intelligence and administrative systems designed to put Barnsley at the forefront of digital excellence for the next decade and beyond.

Barnsley Hospital is one of the leading NHS Trusts in the country and cares for approximately 400,000 people each year.

Following an extensive procurement process, the Trust has selected System C as its core technology partner. It is planning a phased deployment of integrated applications, including a patient administration system, emergency and maternity department software, a clinical communication and collaboration platform, electronic prescribing, order communications, results reporting and business intelligence. Under the same contract, it will also be deploying IMMJ’s MediViewer document management system, tightly coupled with the System C software. In addition, the Trust will be integrating a number of existing systems such as picture archiving.

Barnsley Hospital already uses System C’s e-observations system, CareFlow Vitals (formerly Vitalpac), and Bluespier’s theatre management system and both of these will be tightly integrated.

Taken together, the suite of applications will support the Trust in its aim to improve patient experience and outcomes, to become more efficient, and to allow for the better planning of health and care across Barnsley.

“Our job is to deliver the best for our patients and staff and we are delighted to be making this strategic investment to ensure our Trust is at the forefront of digital technology for the next decade”, said Tom Davidson, Trust director of ICT. “Our existing IT contract is nearing its end and we are determined to make sure the solution that follows is the best for our patients and staff.”

The Barnsley programme follows the System C clinical systems blueprint installed at University Hospitals Bristol as part of NHS England’s Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) initiative. Over time, the Trust plans to deploy the full scope of blueprint solutions and will apply to join the NHS’s GDE ‘fast follower’ programme.

“We visited Bristol to look at the Digital Exemplar programme and we were really impressed by the scope of what they have achieved,” Dominic Bullas, CCIO and consultant endoscopist at Barnsley Hospital, explained.

“We have listened well to the views of patients and staff as we start the process of rolling out these new systems to ensure that we have a smooth transition and included some of that feedback in the procurement process.”

Barnsley Hospital is the 26th Trust to choose System C’s electronic patient record (EPR) as its core operational system. The EPR is built on System C’s 25 years’ experience as a UK company which specialises in working with the NHS and social service authorities.

Markus Bolton, joint CEO at System C, said: “We’re really pleased to have been chosen by Barnsley Hospital. We share the same ethos and ambitions and are really looking forward to working in partnership with them. We have worked really hard on our blueprint and it’s very rewarding to see it being adopted more widely.”