University Hospitals of Leicester sets new standard for NHS patient care

Summary

University Hospitals of Leicester partnered with NTT DATA to implement the new Nervecentre patient administration system. The new solution increases efficiency and reduces the risk of mistakes or delays in treatment, freeing staff up to focus on advising, treating and supporting patients and their families.

Provide better care with data-driven decision-making

Every day, the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) cares for thousands of patients in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, as well as patients referred to its specialist services from all over the country. It also operates one of the busiest emergency departments in Europe.

This requires complex case management, with clinicians and administrative staff requesting tests, making referrals, and managing outpatient appointments and admissions. Speed and accuracy are crucial in reducing delays and errors; but UHL’s patient administration system (PAS) wasn’t up to the task. Its aging PAS made it more challenging to deliver the expected quality of treatment, clinical outcomes and patient experience.

The Trust now has a new electronic patient record (EPR) system developed by software provider Nervecentre, which included implementing a new Patient Administration System.

“The old system was really frustrating because it didn’t work as you’d expect a modern system to work,” explains Will Monaghan, Group Chief Digital Information Officer. “There were always issues around being able to do what you need to do to care for patients.”

To address this, UHL implemented Nervecentre’s new PAS module, which integrates directly with patients’ medical records — streamlining the entire patient journey.

Supported the new system from design to go-live

With a partnership going back more than a decade, NTT DATA understands what UHL needs as an organization. “They’re right there to support us every time we go through one of these major changes,” says Monaghan. “NTT DATA’s been absolutely essential from the very beginning of the patient administration system project — partnering with us on the design and playing a core role in the system’s deployment.”

Rolling out the new solution required careful coordination, as hospitals don’t have the luxury of downtime. The entire Trust went offline while continuing to deliver care, manage cases and record patient data. For the 24 hours needed to deploy the new system, staff kept records on paper while 50 million data items were migrated from the legacy system to the Nervecentre PAS — all without data loss. Once the system was back online, hundreds of colleagues spent many hours entering all the information collected on paper into the new system.

Support didn’t end at go-live. “I’m really grateful to NTT DATA for the ‘hypercare’ period that followed the implementation,” says Monaghan. “We had additional helpdesk agents who responded to calls incredibly quickly; we had people walking the floor who offered at-elbow support as people got used to the new system; and we had technical teams in the background fixing issues in near-real-time.”

A faster, safer system that supports better patient care

Since rolling out the new patient administration system in June 2025, UHL has seen improvements in how 7,000 members of staff work, in how patients move through the system, and in how data is collected and managed. “This is the first time this patient administration system has been used anywhere in the world,” says Monaghan. “It was designed in partnership with the NHS, for the NHS, and our partnership with NTT DATA and Nervecentre has made it a huge success.”

Improved the quality of care

The new system records clinical information as it’s generated, using standardized terminology and digital data capture to eliminate the possibility of misinterpreting hastily-scribbled notes. With more accurate data and efficient administration procedures, test orders are no longer rejected because of missing or unclear information, and patients move through the system more quickly; the PAS looks set to generate better health outcomes for patients.

Enhanced staff efficiency

The new PAS is easier for staff to use than the previous system. Once they have become accustomed to the transition, clinicians and support staff will have better working lives and more time to focus on patients. “It means more of our colleagues will be going home on time, rather than having to stay late to catch up with admin on the old system,” says Monaghan.

Laid the foundation for digital innovation

“We’ve been able to develop a lot of the patient administration system from the ground up; but for us, it’s just a step on the journey,” says Monaghan. “We’re really excited about how we can integrate AI into how we deliver and administer clinical care. Our constant focus is on making it easier to give care, and safer to receive it.”