Last week, in came to light that Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust had made the decision to switch off its Cerner Millennium records software and is moving back its old Sema-Helix software.
The switch follows the termination of Fujitsu’s LSP contract in the South and South West last year, and raises further questions about the impact of the termination, and how Trusts are coping.
At the time, Ardentia stated that the termination could introduce uncertainty and delays to healthcare IT projects being carried out in the region, warning that computer programs that were not fully up and running at the time of the termination would be those most at risk. We must ask the question, has Worthing and Southlands been a victim of this change and uncertainty within NPfIT?
To avoid similar situations, Trusts in the South – and indeed across the country – must be sure they have the correct processes and systems in place to ensure access to essential information and allow a better flow of patients, enabling managers and clinicians to plan and manage their workloads more effectively and deliver an improved level of service.
