Key Takeaways
- Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust awarded a £52 million contract to Epic for a new electronic patient record system.
- The EPR system is expected to go live in April 2027 and will enhance patient care and data management.
- This agreement follows a trend where multiple NHS trusts partner with Epic for unified digital systems.
New Electronic Patient Record System for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has officially awarded a £52 million contract to Epic for the implementation of a new electronic patient record (EPR) system, targeting a go-live date in April 2027. This initiative seeks to improve patient care and streamline information management by allowing better data sharing and access across services.
The partnership with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust aims to establish a collaborative governance model for the EPR’s implementation. The contract, effective from February 26, 2026, runs for a decade, concluding on March 25, 2036.
Ben Travis, the Trust’s CEO, remarked, “Signing the contract with Epic is a major milestone for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. This is a major digital system change and a significant clinical and operational step forward for the Trust.” He emphasized the system’s potential to enhance how health information is documented and utilized, ultimately improving the patient experience.
However, during discussions at a board meeting on January 27, 2026, officials acknowledged that the timelines for implementation are ambitious, reaffirming that the collaborative model would help facilitate the expedient rollout. The Trust’s commitment to this approach aims to mitigate challenges in deploying the new system effectively and efficiently.
The new EPR initiative builds upon a previous outline business case subjected to extensive national oversight. This full business case was submitted to the national EPR Investment Board in January 2026 to secure potential funding for frontline digitization. Amendments were made before presenting it to NHS England for approval.
Currently, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust operates a partially deployed EPR system and a separate community system across its acute services. Approximately 80% of clinical systems are integrated, linked to a centralized patient master index, enabling better management of patient data. The Trust had previously transitioned to Cerner Millennium at its University Hospital Lewisham in June 2015.
This contract adds to Epic’s growing presence in the NHS sector, with similar agreements signed recently in Dorset and Somerset amounting to £222 million. A limited number of NHS trusts, such as Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, are also implementing Epic’s EPR systems to create unified digital frameworks across their services.
Inquiries have been made to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Epic for further comments regarding the new contract and its expected impact on patient care and operational efficiency. Additional insights from Epic’s founder and CEO, Judy Faulkner, can be found in a related episode of Digital Health Unplugged.
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