The unease about the way that electronic patient records are implemented at Trusts grows as MBI Health estimates that costs could hit £13.5 million this year.
The cost for NHS trusts in England to correct data problems that emerge after hospitals transition to a new electronic patient record (EPR) system could hit £13.5 million this year.
Healthcare data firm MBI Health has based this analysis on the number of EPR programmes expected to go live in 2026 and typical remediation costs seen in previous transitions.
An EPR transition is the changeover from legacy hospital systems or an existing EPR system to a new digital platform, including the transfer of patient data, clinical workflows and operational processes. While EPRs are a priority of NHS digitisation, hidden problems in legacy data often only become visible after the new system goes live. When that happens, trusts can face months of additional work to correct records, stabilise reporting and rebuild confidence in the data used to manage patient care.
“EPRs are central to the NHS’s overall future, but we’ve seen that many of the biggest risks to these programmes are already embedded in the legacy data that organisations inherit,” said MBI Health’s chief executive Barry Mulholland
“When those issues are discovered only after go-live, they can destabilise operational systems for months and require expensive fixes. Treating data readiness as a core part of implementation helps ensure digital transformation delivers the benefits staff and patients expect.”
Growing unease
This adds to the growing unease with ERP systems. In December last year, an investigation report from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) highlighted how electronic patient record (EPR) systems still contribute to patient care being missed, delayed or recorded incorrectly. This is despite national recommendations and actions intended to reduce risks.
“This report is not a criticism of EPRs themselves,” said HSSIB senior safety investigator Nick Woodier. “When implemented well, they can bring benefits for patient safety. However, the analysis of our past investigations shows that systems which are poorly implemented, difficult to use, or do not meet the needs of staff and organisations can introduce avoidable patient safety risks, which can contribute to serious harm.”
More recently, Public Policy Projects (PPP) made a strong case that commissioners and procurement teams must ensure that tenders for any electronic patient record or other digital tool include explicit, testable interoperability use cases, aligned to national standards (such as UK Core FHIR), with pre-defined acceptance criteria, open APIs, and financial/contractual penalties for failure to deliver functional interoperability in real-world workflows.
“Too often, data experts are brought in too late in EPR programmes, when key decisions have already been made,” said Marc Farr, chair of the NHS Chief Data and Analytical Officer Network.
“If we want these transformations to succeed, data and analytics leaders need to be at the table from the outset, shaping how systems are designed, implemented and data assured,” he added.
