This contract and go lives roundup features a hospital in Kent going live with Altera Digital Health’s electronic patient record (EPR), and NHS England increasing the value of an NHS App contract with IBM.
Kent hospital goes live with Altera electronic patient record
Fordcombe Hospital in Kent has gone live with an EPR with integrated patient administration system from Altera Digital Health.
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust acquired the hospital from private provider Spire Healthcare in April 2024 and took over the running of it in October 2024.
The integrated solution, which is aimed at supporting the expanded care capacity, went live at the hospital in October 2024, after taking less than six months to roll out.
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board selects Better ePMA
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) in Wales has selected Better to provide an electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) system in its local hospital areas.
The implementation of the ePMA system, which is a key part of NHS Wales’ Digital Medicines Programme, aims to make medicines prescribing and administration safer, easier and more efficient for patients and clinicians.
Better Meds were selected in December 2023, with the contract being officially signed in December 2024. It will cover the implementation window plys five years from go-live with the option to extend by a further two years.
At present, ABUHB plans to go live in February 2026 providing there are no further delays
NCA’s Salford Royal Hospital rolls out Sectra PACS
Salford Royal Hospital, part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA), has rolled out the Sectra picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for reporting on diagnostic imaging.
The system went live on 21 January 2025, enabling reporters and radiologists at the trust to use a single platform to both view and report on imaging studies, rather than having to navigate separate systems to provide reports that inform patient care, diagnoses and treatment.
The technology is set to be rolled out across Greater Manchester throughout 2025 and 2026.
Value of IBM’s NHS App contract increased to £78.6m
NHS England has increased the value of a contract with supplier IBM for additional work on the NHS App to support the government’s NHS App programme.
IBM was initially awarded a contract worth £52.4m in 2022 for the development and maintenance of NHS App features, but according to a contract notice published on 10 February 2025, the value has now increased by £26.2m to £78.6m.
The term of the initial contract was 48 months, with an option to extend for a further 12 months. The uplift does not reflect an extension and applies only to the core contract, which expires in June 2026.
The additional £26.2m to the contract is being used to deliver new and additional features and their associated running and maintenance costs, following the government’s announcement on planned upgrades to the app.
West Yorkshire ICB goes live with continuing healthcare platform
West Yorkshire ICB has gone live with a digital continuing healthcare (CHC) platform at Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership (HCP) to help ease the transition from children and young people’s to adult care.
CHC assessment is a process that helps determine if people with significant ongoing health needs are eligible for care and support through NHS CHC.
The IEG4 platform was launched on 5 February 2025 with the aim of improving the All Age Continuing Care (AACC) process, which lays out the transition from children’s and young people’s CHC to adult CHC procedures, determining eligibility for funding via assessment.