Calderdale and Huddersfield achieves two HIMSS stage six awards
- 10 March 2026
- Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded a further two HIMSS stage six validations
- They recognise the trust's use of digital, data and technology to support patient care
- It is the first organisation in Europe to achieve three HIMSS stage six validations
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust has achieved a further two HIMSS stage six validations for its use of digital, data and technology to support patient care.
The trust, which runs Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and the Calderdale Royal Hospital and community services, recently achieved validations for HIMSS Infrastructure Adoption Model (INFRAM) and Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM).
This follows CHFT’s stage six validation for Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity (AMAM) in 2024, another European first at the time.
Rob Birkett, chief digital and information officer at Calderdale and Huddersfield, said: “This is a significant accomplishment, only made possible by the commitment and positive approach of colleagues across the whole trust.
“Achieving HIMSS stage six accreditations across all three core standards gives assurance that we are using digital, data and technology to support, enable and transform how we deliver patient care.
“The accreditations focused on how we use digital to support quality improvement, reduce risk and enhance safety. The assessors visited wards and departments across the whole trust and were extremely positive about what they saw and the people they met.
“This has been an amazing experience, taking hard work, innovative thinking and commitment by all those involved.”
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is a not-for-profit global advisor, which takes best practice from across the world to benchmark its stages zero to seven, with seven being seen as a global exemplar.
Its members include 550-plus healthcare organisations, 430-plus provider organisations, 500-plus not-for-profit partners, and more than 125,000 individuals. Its certificates are based on a series of pre-validation exercises and on-site visits.
John Rayner, senior director for the EMEA region at HIMSS, said: “As the only recipient of three stage six awards, AMAM, EMRAM and INFRAM, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust may be described by some as one of the most digitally advanced hospitals in Europe. What a great narrative to celebrate.”
Achieving EMRAM stage six reflects Calderdale and Huddersfield’s strong clinical decision support, closed loop medication processes, and digitally enabled workflows that enhance patient safety and reduce variation in care.
INFRAM stage six recognises the trust’s secure, resilient technology environment – ensuring high availability of access, cybersecurity robustness, and reliable performance to support safe delivery of clinical services.
The accreditation for AMAM stage six marks the trust’s advanced use of analytics to drive quality improvement, identify unwarranted variations, support population health and inequalities – including learning disabilities – and enable data driven patient safety interventions.
Calderdale and Huddersfield is now working towards stage seven accreditations and has recently launched a five-year digital strategy to further enhance its digital capabilities, improve clinical workflows, and reinforce patient safety, delivered in partnership with The Health Informatics Service which is hosted by the trust.
Meanwhile, Jersey General Hospital told Digital Health News that Jersey General Hospital is aiming to achieve HIMSS EMRAM level six by mid-2026.
You can read more about how Calderdale and Huddersfield has used data science and analytics to reduce appointment backlogs, tackle health inequalities, create departmental efficiencies and improve outcomes in this white paper.
