The first stage of Guernsey’s Electronic Patient Record programme will go live by the end of August, promises HSC.
The multi-million pound project, which is intended to help doctors and other healthcare practitioners efficiently and securely record, track, and analyse patients’ data, was due to be fully live by the end of last year.
However, delays around ‘interfacing’ and medical upgrades have put the launch date back.
Now Health and Social Care has confirmed to Express that the first phase of implementation will go live this summer.
The first lot of records to be fully implemented with the new EPR system will be in children’s services.
HSC said other departments will follow “in due course”.
Previously HSC had said the roll out would continue during 2026.
But the latest delays have put that roll out back further.
“We most recently said that the first phase of the Electronic Patient Record Programme would go live this summer,” acknowledged a spokesperson for HSC.
“We are on track to go live with implementing our upgraded software in Child Health and Children’s Services by the end of August. This will bring immediate benefits with improved workflows and a higher quality of data being captured in the patient/service user record.
“Further work is needed before we can add the Acute, Adult Community, Adult Disability Services and Mental Health areas,” the spokesperson added.
“This includes ensuring the interface work as part of the upgrade of the new radiology systems is sequenced appropriately and as such reduces any clinical risk. Careful management of the timing and interdependencies of these roll outs are critical to ensure that clinical risk is minimised and the upgrades of all the systems are effective which ultimately has a positive impact on patient pathways. Planning is underway with the relevant third parties for the wider rollout. HSC will confirm the timings in due course.
“The programme team continues to actively monitor timelines, progress, and risks so that work can be advanced as soon as possible. This is an inherently complex programme with many dependencies on third parties, but throughout this process, Health and Social Care remains committed to ensuring continuity of care and to maintain the highest standards of patient/service user safety.”
Most of the work to bring in the new EPR system was carried out under the watch of former HSC President, recently retired Deputy Al Brouard.
A new HSC President who will oversee the final stages of work on the project and its implantation will be elected by States members on Friday.
In total, the EPR project has cost more than £22 million – which is over the budget approved when the States agreed to pay for it in 2020.
The previous system – which remains in use – was in danger of being declared obsolete by 2021 with its manufacturer no longer providing support for it.
TRAKCare 2012, provided by a company called InterSystems, is also a digital programme which allows doctors and other healthcare practitioners to efficiently and securely record, track and analyse patient data, but it was said to be outdated in 2020.
A budget of “around £15 to 20m” was approved to be spent replacing the system with the new EPR to avoid “endangering” the island’s healthcare services.
