Electronic Patient Records System Contract Term Extension (VEAT Notification)

The Contracting Authority is not awarding a new contract. This VEAT notice is in respect of a proposed short term extension to the term of its contract for the provision of an electronic patient record system. See sections II.2.4 for further details.

This is not a new contract opportunity, but rather a VEAT notice to inform the market that the Contracting Authority is seeking to extend the term of its existing contract for the provision of an electronic patient records (EPR) system which was originally awarded to Epic Systems Corporation (Epic) in June 2018 following a competitive award process. The Contracting Authority is intending to share its existing EPR instance with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSD) and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP).

The term of Contracting Authority's contract with Epic is being extended for a short period beyond the extension period set out in its contract so that it is co-terminus with the term of the TSD and UHP contracts with Epic in order that all 3 Trusts participating in the shared EPR instance can receive the services for the same term.

The term of the contract is being extended for a short term period of 19 to 20 months (subject to when signature of TSD's and UHP's contracts with Epic occur) beyond the extension period set out in the contract. Additional information: The Contracting Authority considers that the short term extension beyond the extension period detailed in the contract is permitted under Regulation 72(1)(b) of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

This is because Epic are already providing the overall solution which will be integrated with other systems, and because RDUH will be on a shared instance with TSD and UHP, it would not be feasible for another supplier to provide the EPR system, particularly for an extension that will be relatively short term. Adding another contractor to the mix would leave the solution and shared instance model open to disruption (which would not be acceptable due to the critical nature of the EPR solution which is ultimately vital for patient care). Further, it would not be possible for Epic to provide operational services to some but not all of the Trusts on the shared instance. In addition, the overall value of the short term extension will not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.