No deal for Sheffield

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust will not take CSC’s Lorenzo under the company’s interim deal with the Department of Health.

The trust told eHealth Insider it had considered its options regarding an electronic patient record system and decided Lorenzo did not meet its needs.

The trust tendered for a patient administration system for the second time in July last year.

However, it told suppliers in December it was assessing the suitability of CSC’s deal with the DH. The interim agreement promises central support and funding for trusts that can develop a “robust business case” for taking Lorenzo.

It also gives the first ten trusts that commit to taking the EPR before the end of this financial year, a signing-on bonus of £1m for implementation expenses.

EHI has identified four trusts that are looking to take the deal, but Sheffield Children’s confirmed it would not pursue this option.

Isabel Hemmings, chief operating officer for the trust, said: "We have assessed the Lorenzo system and decided it does not fully meet our needs as a specialist paediatric trust.

“We would need to make substantial developments to the system to meet our specialist needs and therefore we are not progressing this option and are instead continuing with our original procurement process."

Sheffield Children’s has been looking to replace its legacy McKesson PAS for years.

The trust first went to tender for a PAS in 2011, but later cancelled the procurement saying the trust needed “further work on its strategy before re-tendering.”

Last July it went out to tender again, looking for a replacement patient administration system with “options for electronic patient record functionality.”

The trust said in December it hoped to choose a new supplier by April 2013.

The four trusts that have confirmed their intention to take Lorenzo are; Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust; Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.

Other trusts that have expressed an interest in taking Lorenzo are; South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust; University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

Walsall has put its PAS procurement on hold and is due to make a decision in March.