Royal Cornwall Hospitals delays Oracle EPR go-live

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has delayed the go-live of its Oracle Health electronic patient record (EPR) system to ensure it can be launched safely and maintain service continuity.

The trust announced in September 2023 that it was designing and developing a new EPR system to replace several digital and paper-based systems, with an initial launch planned for spring 2025.

Kelvyn Hipperson, chief information officer at RCHT, told Digital Health News that a new go-live date of June 2026 had been set to ensure the trust is in the best position to make the most of what the system offers.

However, a May 2026 trust board paper revealed that the EPR, called eCare, would not go live in June 2026 as planned following a 60-day review of clinical, operational and technical readiness.

“While the programme has made substantial progress, we were not sufficiently assured that going live in June 2026 would consistently support safe patient care and service continuity across all areas,” Steve Williamson, chief executive at RCHT, told the board.

He added that “the decision to delay is a necessary and appropriate assurance action, reflecting strong clinical leadership and governance of the programme and alignment with national best practice for major digital deployments”.

The board paper stated that the additional time would allow the trust to “complete further clinical and operational assurance, strengthen end-to-end pathways and safety controls, increase staff readiness and confidence, and reduce systemwide risk at go-live and during early stabilisation”.

A spokesperson for RCHT told Digital Health News: “Our eCare EPR programme has not been cancelled. We have taken the decision to reset the timing of go‑live to give us more time to ensure the system launches safely and successfully.”

They added: “We are continuing work on the programme and expect to confirm a revised go‑live timeline in the coming weeks.”

RCHT is not the only trust to face challenges with a major Oracle Health EPR deployment. In February 2026, Digital Health News reported that an Oracle Health EPR programme at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT) was expected to be delayed.

The EPR system, called ‘Nova’, which will align physical and mental health care provision across the two trusts, was originally planned to go live in phases from winter 2026 until spring 2027.

In an EPUT board paper, published on 4 February 2026, Zephan Trent, executive director of digital, transformation and strategy, said: “The Nova programme is progressing, but new risks – linked to system integration and programme complexity – are likely to delay the EPR go-live date.”

Digital Health News contacted Oracle Health for comment.