Suppliers invited to bid for ambulance electronic patient record framework

Suppliers are being invited to bid for a national framework agreement for the provision and support of an electronic patient record (EPR) system for ambulance trusts. 

An invitation to tender has been launched by the East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub, in partnership with the National Ambulance Procurement Board.  

The framework agreement aims to provide a route to market for UK ambulance services who intend to procure an EPR.  

The tender notice sets out the intended benefits including: working in partnership with Ambulance Services in the UK to aggregate spend; driving cash, releasing savings for reinvestment in front-line services; improving processes for staff in terms of accessing products and services that they require; contributing to improvements in patient care; and supporting the efficient handover of care to other providers. 

It adds: “The contracting authorities (ambulance trusts) wish to procure an integrated electronic patient care record (ePCR) system for the ambulance services across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Isle of Wight.  

“The system will be available to the ambulance services who may wish to replace the current system and other associated paper based processes, exploiting the technological advantages an electronic system can provide with integration with hardware installation or cloud services to other organisations.” 

The EPR framework agreement is initially to last for two years with the potential to extend it by two, one-year periods.  

There are a number of primary beneficiaries of the EPR framework within the UK ambulance services including: South Western Ambulance Service NHS FT; South Central Ambulance Service NHS FT and its subsidiary South Central Fleet Services Limited; South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS FT; London Ambulance Service NHS Trust; East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust; East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust; Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust; North East Ambulance Service NHS FT and its subsidiary North East Ambulance Service Unified Solutions Limited; North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust; West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS FT; Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust; Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust; Scottish Ambulance Service Board; and Isle of Wight NHS Trust. 

The deadline for bid submissions is 11 November 2022 at 1pm.  

Ambulance trusts have been making progress with digital and West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust is one of just two which have had their digital maturity recognised through accreditation on the Global Digital Exemplar programme.