OneAdvanced discontinues Carenotes EPR system

Exclusive: Software supplier OneAdvanced has confirmed that it is removing the Carenotes electronic patient record (EPR) from its product portfolio.

It follows a cyber attack in August 2022 which led to critical health services, including NHS 111, being disrupted and the 12 mental health trusts using the EPR being unable to access their systems for at least two months.

OneAdvanced, previously known as Advanced, was issued with a notice of intent for a £6.09 million fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office in August 2024 for failing to “implement measures to protect the personal information of 82,946 people”.

Since the outage, most trusts using Carenotes have found alternative suppliers, but South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) told Digital Health News is still at the pre-tender market engagement stage of procuring a new EPR, ahead of its contract ending in spring 2025.

Ric Thompson, senior vice president of health and care at OneAdvanced, told Digital Health News: “To ensure we align our investment to the best outcomes for our customers and the patients they serve, we have taken the strategic decision to remove the Carenotes EPR product from our go forward portfolio.

“We will, however, continue to support our existing Carenotes customers.”

A spokesperson for SLAM said: “We are about to undertake pre-tender market engagement for a new EPR.

“We have been working with key stakeholders to best understand their needs for the new system and learning from the experiences of other trusts.

“This is a key priority for the organisation, and we are working hard to ensure we procure a solution that is fit for purpose, enhances clinical outcomes and supports our ongoing delivery of high quality and patient-centred care.”

In February 2024, Carenotes customer Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust announced its decision to procure the Rio EPR from The Access Group.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We’re currently engaged in a programme of work and on track to deploy Rio across our services ahead of our contract with OneAdvanced ending in spring 2025.”

OneAdvanced is also discontinuing its CareDirector solution for social care case management, which a spokesperson told Digital Health News would not be part of its “go forward portfolio”.

In February 2023 the firm launched its  SaaS care business management system, Care Cloud, which is says is “the next generation of care technology from OneAdvanced.”

A spokesperson for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT), which uses the CareDirector solution, said that OneAdvanced will “continue to honour the tenure of the contract with LYPFT”, adding that the trust has “commenced the process to prepare to procure a new EPR system”.

OneAdvanced told Digital Health News that it will continue to be active in the NHS market.

Thompson said: “We understand the role technology plays in the NHS and wider health market in driving productivity, and we continue to significantly invest in our portfolio of products that serve these markets.

“Most recently we delivered an AI powered module of Docman to help our customers across primary care drive greater efficiencies, and Adastra which underpins most of the NHS 111 service in England.”

This story was updated at 11.22am on 21 November 2024 to state that OneAdvanced was issued with a notice of intent to fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office. A previous version said that the firm had been issued a fine.