East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has signed a deal with Cerner to implement an electronic health record (EHR) across the trust.

The Cerner Millennium platform will replace paper-based records and other electronic processes and will create a single source of clinical information.

Once implemented, the platform will provide clinicians with instant and secure access to a patient’s history and treatments and, as result, will help them make better and informed decisions based on specific patient needs.

Through the EHR, relevant patient information will be available electronically across trust facilities, transforming the way patients are admitted, cared for, and discharged.

Mark Johnson, CIO at the trust, said: “This is a big moment for us. It represents almost five years of hard work carried out by a combined team of dedicated people from performance, informatics, and finance.

“The next steps will no doubt take us into an exhilarating episode of the future history of ELHT. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their hard work and support both now and going forward as we embark upon this new, exciting challenge.

“This innovation will signal a massive transformation in the way we manage, monitor, and deliver services and care to our patients and the people of East Lancashire.”

East Lancashire joins the likes of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust and The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which also recently signed an agreement with Cerner to implement an EHR.

Distie Profit, managing director for Cerner in the UK, added: “We are delighted to welcome ELHT to our community of UK clients, and humbled to be chosen as their transformation partner to improve the way they deliver care to patients.

“The implementation of Millennium EHR will be pivotal in providing a better experience for both staff and patients across all facilities and improving the efficiency of their processes.

“Importantly, it will create greater opportunities for EHR data to be leveraged across the integrated care system and be used to inform the planning and design of services for the region.”