Mackey delays two more EPR launches

NHS England has intervened to delay the roll-out of electronic patient record systems at two trusts, due to major concerns over the operational impact.

A major go-live of a Nervecentre EPR at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals, due last week, was suspended.

And roll-out of elements of Nervecentre systems at Sherwood Forest Hospitals has also been delayed, HSJ understands.

Several sources said the delays were ordered by NHSE due to the likely disruption to elective activity and emergency care. National leaders are trying to hit annual recovery targets for the end of this month.

Concerns about accident and emergency disruption heightened when Nottingham University Hospitals Trust had to declare a critical incident after it went live with Nervecentre in November. 

In the autumn, NHSE chief executive Sir Jim Mackey told trust bosses he would be making the final call on whether EPR launches would go ahead, adding a further layer of scrutiny.

At the time, a national source told HSJ: “While electronic records can have huge benefits, the reality is we as a system need to pull our fingers out, invest in the training, job planning and process re-engineering, and make sure we’re really seeing and feeling the benefit, not a productivity loss. And suppliers need to help make that true.”

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 6 March 2026