Sheffield Health Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has published a benefits analysis of its Rio electronic patient record system, implemented in March 2025. The report documents progress made across a range of functional areas, acknowledges delays to parts of the optimisation programme, and sets out the financial returns recorded since go-live.

Several components of the system are now operational or approaching completion. A patient flow management solution, running via wall-mounted touchscreen monitors in inpatient areas, has been live since 15 May and is being used in daily bed meetings. Digital teams have maintained an on-site presence to support ward staff with its use. Testing of electronic discharge letters was completed at the end of April, with a full rollout across all areas expected by the end of May. Sixteen eLearning packages have been developed for staff, covering basic system use through to clinical assessments, and these were in final testing as of the reporting period. Following a prolonged period of inactivity caused by a localized testing equipment malfunction, the transfer of the electronic document management repository to updated server hardware was slated for completion by late May, pending internal authorization.

The trust identified significant problems with system performance in April, when a high volume of calls to the Rio support team prompted an investigation. It was found that the server infrastructure in place was not adequately scaled for an organisation of the trust's size. Approval was granted for urgent upgrades, and work was carried out by The Access Group to increase processing capacity across all servers, doubling CPU cores from two to four and increasing RAM from 8GB to 12GB. The trust noted in its report that future maintenance work would require broader clinical involvement during testing, rather than relying solely on IT staff.

The financial returns reported since March 2025 are specific. The trust states that its costs under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts have fallen by £85,000. Savings from the 2024 rationalisation process include £27,000 from a reduction in clinical correspondence, £34,000 from reduced clinical administration, and £510,000 attributed to time savings and productivity improvements. A further £150,000 saving has been recorded through reduced waiting lists, linked to better clinic utilisation. A separate figure of approximately £700 in clinician time has been saved through the introduction of digital patient reported outcome measures, described by the trust as non-cash releasing. Clinicians have reported that the system is faster and more stable than its predecessor, that it autosaves to prevent data loss, and that the number of steps required to log in has been reduced.

The trust's digital maturity assessment score has risen from 1.5 to 2.2 since implementation, with further improvement anticipated as additional functionality is activated. The report states that improved data accessibility is enabling more accurate benchmarking against comparable organisations within the NHS Oversight Framework. Better connectivity with NHS Spine and GP Connect has also been noted as a contributing factor to administrative and clinical efficiency. Progress has additionally been made toward achieving Cyber Essentials certification and meeting the requirements of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit.

The system was deployed in two tranches, and the trust acknowledges that this has produced uneven levels of maturity across its services. Teams from the second tranche are operating on a more optimised configuration, while those from the first require refresher training before equivalent benefits can be measured. A phased approach to addressing this is planned, with second tranche teams taking priority from June 2026. A full report analysing planned against actual costs and programme delays is expected once the optimisation phase is concluded.

The Rio implementation at Sheffield sits within a wider pattern of NHS trusts investing in electronic patient record infrastructure. Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is targeting a 2027 go-live for its own Rio system, currently in clinical validation workshops. University Hospitals Dorset signed a contract with Epic in March 2026 and is planning a full go-live in April 2028. United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has issued a notice for an EPR implementation partner, with a tender expected in July 2026.

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