Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) has announced an agreement with HP, allowing the enterprise services provider to implement an electronic patient records (EPR) system eHospital programme aimed at improving services.
Worth over £200m across 10 years, the deal looks to help the NHS foundation "become a true digital hospital" through the use of mobile and data management technology aimed at improving patient care. CUH, which runs Addenbrooke Hospital and the Rosie Hospital, is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK.
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The agreement will eventually see CUH staff use HP-provided mobile, handheld and tablet devices to access patient records and communicate with each other, theoretically allowing clinical and administrative procedures to become much more efficient through the use of improved IT services.
If successful, it should allow doctors and nurses at CUH to devote more time and resources to patient care.
"This is the most significant decision the hospital has made in recent times, and one which is incredibly exciting and will help transform the way we deliver care to our patients," said Dr Keith McNeil, chief executive of CUH.
"eHospital is about putting our patients – their outcomes and safety – first, always. We cannot continue to deliver the highest quality of compassionate care to our patients unless we invest in IT systems to transform our services.
"Our patients will see significant benefits as we will be able to care for them in a safer and more effective way, spend more time with them and, very importantly, they will be much more involved in their own care.
"All in all, the new computer system will make life simpler for staff and safer for patients; eHospital will make the right thing the easy thing to do."
The services will include Enterprise Applications Hosting, Network Management and HP WorkPlace 360 services. HP will also be responsible for hosting and operating CUH's new electronic patient record system from UK-based datacentres.
"When dealing with human lives, technology should be an enabler rather than a roadblock," said Howard Hughes, HP senior vice president and general manager for EMEA Enterprise Services.
"This Trust is already at the forefront of innovative patient treatment, and now the HP team will combine its healthcare expertise with proven solutions to build a robust infrastructure to support the hospitals' high standards of clinical excellence and improve patient outcomes."
Last week, Dr David Wilson, lead GP at Grove House Practice in Runcorn, Cheshire, told Computing that digitisation of services has the potential to free up time, space and money in the NHS.
