Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has awarded Stalis Ltd, the Oxford-based specialist Healthcare Information Management Company a seven-year contract to supply a new Patient Administration System (PAS) part of the Stalis flare software suite. This will replace the current McKesson PAS.

The contract for the new Patient Administration System (PAS) provides for associated implementation and the Stalis CareXML data migration and business information continuity services. Stalis flare is powered by Silverlink PAS which is currently operational in 11 NHS Trusts and offers Northumbria very high functionality coupled with proven low risk and an active forward-thinking user group.

Jim Mackey, Chief Executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said “The implementation of Stalis flare Patient Administration System (PAS) represents a major stage in our Information Management and Technology (IM&T) strategy to build an electronic health record.

“We are pleased to partner with Stalis in this development and with the locally-based team at Silverlink.”

Christine Whitehouse, Managing Director of Stalis Ltd, said: “We are naturally delighted to have been awarded this prestigious contract against fierce competition and we hope that this will be the first of many Trusts replacing ageing patient administration systems and wanting exceptional functionality and value for money in their foundation solutions to take them into the future.

Stalis is responsible for the supply, implementation, training and support as well as data migration and business information continuity in the changeover to the new system. It is planned that the new system will go live in November 2012”.

The PAS will support the Trust’s hospital and community services in North Tyneside and Northumberland, delivering patient registrations, flexible inpatient and outpatient scheduling and act as a base for a wider health record.

The contract follows a rigorous procurement process to select a system which will form a core element of the Trust’s IM&T strategy. This is based on selecting the most appropriate systems for each function which are then integrated through the Single View clinical portal.

Kevin Dickinson, Head of Information Technology, said: “The new system will significantly improve the way we administer information about our patients helping us to provide a high quality service. We are committed to running all of our support services efficiently and the new system represents excellent value for money.”