University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) have now formally signed a contract with the electronic patient record (EPR) system supplier Epic.
This decision followed the national approval of both Trusts' full business cases in December.
This follows the implementation of the same system at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust last year.
By investing in a system from the same supplier, the three acute NHS trusts are taking a major step towards implementing a unified EPR system across the Devon county.
The planned go live date for TSDFT is in Spring 2026 with UHP following in Summer 2026
By investing in a system from the same supplier, the three acute NHS trusts in Devon will be making the most of digital advances.
All three trusts are now working closely with Epic with a planned go live date for TSDFT in Spring 2026 with UHP following in Summer 2026.
As the Devon rollout takes place, additional functionality will be made available in the Royal Devon system too, which the Trust believes will improve the overall system for all three trusts.
Professor Adrian Harris, Chief Medical Officer at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Responsible Officer for the One Devon EPR programme, said: “Our electronic patient record is already helping us to transform care for patients in North and East Devon. Collaborating across Devon will help us to embed change on a wider scale and make Epic as effective as possible for local people and communities.”
Leslie Selby, Epic VP, said: “Regional collaboration on Epic’s digital platform supports NHS convergence goals, including real-time access for patients to interact with their personal health records and care coordination between clinicians to support better outcomes across the trusts.”
The system
Epic’s EPR allows staff access to patients’ health and care information quickly and securely.
For patients, this will mean they do not have to remember their medical history or repeat the same information to different members of staff, making their care journey more joined-up.
Royal Devon patients have already been experiencing the benefits of the Epic electronic patient record.
Having a single digital record for each patient improves the visibility of information between medical teams, which helps to improve safety and quality of care.
Regional collaboration on Epic’s digital platform supports NHS convergence goals
This same digital record also offers patients better access to information about their own care through MY CARE, a digital platform for patients, which was introduced for East Devon in 2020 and for North Devon in 2022.
Simeon Brundell, Chief Clinical Information Officer for University Hospitals Plymouth said: “The vision is to develop a Devon-wide EPR that is jointly owned, implemented and supported in a truly collaborative programme.”
“We know from the work we have previously done on our pathways, across Devon, that using multiple clinical systems and paper records is challenging for our staff and presents issues for patients accessing our services.
“By streamlining our digital processes into one programme, we will enable our staff to focus on decision making supported by accurate and timely information, as well as patient care.”