Royal Berks disputing Millennium costs

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is "in dispute" with Cerner over the cost of its electronic patient record system.

EHI revealed last week that the trust was facing significant operational and financial pressures after implementing Cerner Millennium.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed it had spent £30m on the system up to October 2012 and a recent report to the Council of Governors revealed that it expected to spend another £6.2m implementing the system this year.

This was against a budget of £2.5m.

Chief executive Ed Donald held a quarterly staff briefing last week in which he detailed how the costs associated with the system had become unsustainable.

He told staff that the initial annual running costs for the EPR were estimated at £1.5m for the first seven years of the deal and the trust set aside £2.5m annually.

However, it was now estimated to cost £6.2m in 2013 and £5.5m for every subsequent year.

A trust spokesperson confirmed that Royal Berkshire was "in dispute" with Cerner regarding the costs of Millennium and was in discussions with the company regarding this.

Donald’s briefing to the Council of Governors said the increased costs were due to significant data correction being required each month and an increased number of patient administration staff being needed to run the system.

EHI understands there are also costs associated with reconfiguration of the system.

The trust went live with Millennium in June 2012.

It holds a number of contracts relating to its EPR. In mid-2009, Royal Berkshire signed with University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre to deliver Millennium and in early 2010, it signed a Cerner hosting contract with CSC.

In 2011, the trust signed a separate, seven-year outsourcing deal with CSC, including helpdesk support, worth up to £50m.

Two new contract award notices were then published in June 2012 awarding Cerner £16.5m for the remote hosting of Millennium, a helpdesk and support for the system.

A Cerner spokesperson said the trust’s contract for the implementation of their EPR was with the UPMC, not Cerner.

“Nevertheless, the future running costs of Millennium represent less than 1% of trust turnover,” the spokesperson said.

“More importantly, when successfully implemented, Millennium gives doctors and nurses real-time access to high-quality clinical information which is critical in the delivery of high-quality care for patients.”