Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTUH) has signed a contract with System C, a McKesson company, to supply and implement a new Patient Administration System (PAS). The agreement is part of a longer term electronic patient record (EPR) programme within the Trust.

Mark Magrath, Commercial Director at BTUH, said: “We are pleased to confirm the contract, which will allow us to deploy further components of the Medway suite of systems after launch of the PAS, to build a fully integrated EPR.

“Following our investment in electronic medical records, this represents another major investment in ICT by the Trust. The Board has acknowledged that investment in ICT is key to improving efficiency and patient safety as part of the QIPP challenge faced by all healthcare providers. As one of the first 10 foundation trusts in the UK, our aim has always been to be at the cutting edge of development”.

Steven Thorndyke, EPR Project Manager at BTUH added: “The deployment of the Medway Patient Administration System for the Trust will be the foundation for a full electronic patient record programme for our patients, helping us to provide high quality healthcare, optimise outcomes through effective care delivery and improve care planning and documentation within the local care pathway”.

 “We are pleased to partner with System C in this significant programme.  We look forward to building a long-term relationship with System C and McKesson to ensure BTUH deploys leading healthcare ICT”.

“This announcement follows a rigorous procurement process to select a system and preferred partner. The new system will support strategic objectives and bring benefits to the wider health community, including easier sharing of information between clinicians.”
“We are committed to running all our support services efficiently and the new system represents excellent value for money”.

Gary Davies, Sales Director at System C, said: “The value of a modern reliable PAS should never be underestimated; it provides the key pillar of a hospital’s patient care and patient management systems, supporting improvements in quality and driving efficiencies across both the Trust and the wider NHS”.

“Our partnership with BTUH underlines System C’s commitment to supporting the NHS in developing electronic patient records and demonstrates our belief that information technology has a vital role in delivering higher quality and better value healthcare to the UK population.”