University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex) has officially solidified its commitment to a digital-first future by signing a seven-year contract with Alcidion to deliver a comprehensive electronic patient record (EPR) system. This agreement, which follows the trust’s selection of Alcidion as its preferred supplier in January 2026, marks a pivotal moment in the modernization of one of the NHS’s largest acute trusts.
The implementation of the Miya Precision platform promises to move the trust away from fragmented, legacy systems toward a unified digital ecosystem. With a phased rollout scheduled to begin in the spring of 2027, the project is poised to enhance clinical safety, improve operational efficiency, and redefine the standard of care for patients across seven hospital sites and extensive community services.
The Foundation of Change: Main Facts
The partnership between UHSussex and Alcidion is not merely a software acquisition; it is a foundational shift in how the trust manages information. At the heart of this transformation is the Miya Precision platform, a modular, vendor-neutral digital infrastructure designed to consolidate disparate patient data into a single, accessible view.
Key elements of the agreement include:
- Comprehensive Integration: The EPR will aggregate data currently siloed across multiple legacy systems, ensuring that clinicians have real-time access to patient records regardless of their physical location within the trust.
- Virtual Care Innovation: The contract marks a significant milestone for the NHS, as UHSussex becomes the first trust to integrate Alcidion’s Virtual Care functionality directly into an EPR programme, reflecting the growing necessity of remote and hybrid care models.
- Scope and Scale: The system will support a workforce of nearly 20,000 staff members, streamlining clinical decision-making and patient flow across seven hospitals and various community-based service lines.
- Phased Deployment: Rather than a "big bang" approach, the trust will leverage the modularity of Miya Precision to deliver improvements progressively, ensuring that staff are supported throughout the transition.
A Chronology of Strategic Procurement
The road to this contract signing has been characterized by rigorous planning and deep organizational engagement.
Phase 1: Strategic Planning and Engagement (2024–2025)
Recognizing that technology is only as effective as its adoption, UHSussex prioritized internal engagement from the outset. The procurement process was not conducted in isolation; it was shaped by the voices of the people who will use the system every day. Over 1,500 colleagues contributed to the development of technical requirements, while more than 1,000 staff members participated directly in procurement and testing activities. This bottom-up approach ensured that the selected platform would address the specific, high-pressure pain points of the trust’s clinicians and administrative staff.
Phase 2: Selection and Validation (January 2026)
In January 2026, the trust identified Alcidion as its preferred supplier. This decision was informed by the successful history of the existing relationship between the two organizations; specifically, the trust had already been utilizing Alcidion’s Patientrack (Miya Observations and Assessments) for several years. This familiarity acted as a proof-of-concept, providing the board and the clinical leadership with confidence that Alcidion could scale its capabilities to meet the demands of a full EPR deployment.
Phase 3: Contract Finalization and Implementation (2026–2027)
Following the formal signing, the project has moved into the mobilization phase. Readiness work is currently underway to ensure that the infrastructure—both technical and human—is prepared for the phased introduction of the system. The trust is targeting a go-live date in the spring of 2027, with an emphasis on continuous testing and refinement during the intervening months.
Data-Driven Decision Making: The Clinical Implications
The primary driver for the EPR project is the urgent need to address the "information fatigue" that currently plagues the NHS. In many large trusts, patient data is spread across archaic databases, paper files, and disconnected specialty software. This fragmentation often forces clinicians to spend valuable time tracking down information rather than providing care.
Real-Time Clinical Decision Support
By utilizing Miya Precision, clinicians will benefit from real-time access to clinical alerts, medication histories, and diagnostic results. The system is designed to act as an "intelligent assistant," helping staff identify deteriorating patients faster and providing decision-support tools that reduce the cognitive load on busy doctors and nurses.
Streamlining Patient Flow
Operational efficiency is a core pillar of the UHSussex strategy. The EPR will provide managers and clinicians with a bird’s-eye view of patient flow across the trust. By identifying bottlenecks in real-time—such as delays in discharge or bottlenecks in diagnostic imaging—the trust aims to reduce wait times and improve bed utilization.
The Virtual Care Frontier
The inclusion of Virtual Care functionality is perhaps the most forward-looking aspect of the contract. As healthcare delivery shifts increasingly toward home-based monitoring and outpatient support, the ability to integrate these virtual pathways into the primary record is crucial. This will enable the trust to provide seamless care that follows the patient from the hospital bed to their own home, facilitating safer transitions and reducing the risk of readmission.
Perspectives from Leadership
The leadership at both UHSussex and Alcidion view this contract as a collaborative partnership, one that transcends the traditional "vendor-client" dynamic.
Roxanne Smith, Chief Strategy Officer, UHSussex
Roxanne Smith has been instrumental in articulating the strategic vision for the project. For Smith, the EPR is an essential tool for staff empowerment. "Our ambition is to provide staff with modern, reliable, and intuitive digital tools that bring patient information together in one place," she stated. "Delivering an EPR is an essential step towards achieving those ambitions for our patients, helping improve the experience of care and making it easier for staff to access and share information across our hospitals and services."
Kate Quirke, Group Managing Director and CEO, Alcidion
Kate Quirke emphasized the long-term potential of the partnership, particularly regarding research and regional integration. "UHSussex’s purpose for the EPR procurement is to implement a single, integrated digital platform that improves patient care, supports regional integration, drives operational efficiency, and delivers long-term social and research benefits," Quirke noted. She highlighted that the modular nature of the platform is designed to provide "ROI for clinicians and patients alike" by allowing for a scalable, iterative implementation that avoids the disruptions often associated with large-scale digital transformations.
Implications for the Future of NHS Healthcare
The UHSussex-Alcidion deal serves as a barometer for the broader digital trajectory of the NHS. As the health service grapples with mounting backlogs and an aging population, the ability to harness data effectively is no longer a luxury—it is a survival imperative.
Regional Integration and Connectivity
One of the most critical aspects of the Miya Precision platform is its vendor-neutrality. By choosing a system that can communicate with other platforms, UHSussex is positioning itself to be a leader in regional health integration. This ensures that the trust can participate in shared care records with neighboring providers, GP surgeries, and social care organizations, creating a "cradle-to-grave" view of patient health.
Research and Innovation
The structured data generated by the new EPR will provide a rich resource for medical research. By consolidating patient outcomes, treatment pathways, and clinical observations, the trust will be better equipped to participate in clinical trials and quality improvement initiatives. This data-driven environment will allow for "learning health systems," where the clinical outcomes of today directly inform the treatment protocols of tomorrow.
Staff Retention and Wellbeing
Finally, the project addresses the "human factor" of digital transformation. Staff burnout is a critical issue within the NHS. By replacing manual, paper-heavy, or clunky legacy systems with intuitive, modern digital interfaces, UHSussex is investing in the wellbeing of its workforce. Reducing the administrative burden on clinicians is a proven way to improve job satisfaction, allowing staff to spend more time on what they do best: caring for patients.
Conclusion: A Benchmark for Excellence
The contract between UHSussex and Alcidion represents a bold commitment to excellence in the digital age. By focusing on modularity, deep staff engagement, and the integration of virtual care, the trust is creating a blueprint that other NHS entities will likely look to emulate.
As the project advances toward its spring 2027 rollout, the eyes of the digital health community will be on UHSussex. If successful, this partnership will not only streamline hospital operations but will fundamentally change the relationship between the clinician, the patient, and the data that connects them. It is a testament to the fact that, in the modern NHS, the most powerful tool for clinical recovery is a robust, integrated, and forward-thinking digital foundation.
