Frequently asked questions

EPR stands for Electronic Patient Record. It is a digital system that holds clinical information about patients and makes it available to the staff involved in their care. For Norfolk and Waveney’s three acute hospitals, it will be one shared system - the same record available across all three sites.

The system is MEDITECH Expanse. Huron Consulting Services UK is supporting our EPR programme team with the way the system is designed to build an EPR tailored to Norfolk and Waveney patients.

We're currently working towards May 2027. However, we will only go live when the system is ready and it is safe to do so and so this date will remain under review.

Huron Consulting Services UK joined as delivery partner in May 2026. They are working alongside the programme team to design, build and configure the MEDITECH Expanse system for use across all three trusts. Hunter Healthcare is part of the Huron team.

Yes. How you document, order, schedule, prescribe and hand over will change. The extent of that change depends on your role and EPR team members will help you to understand what that could mean for you. You will get specific training before go-live, and you will have support in your work area over the first few weeks of the new system being in use.

For most staff, the early weeks after go-live will feel like a significant change, but over time things will get easier. New ways of working take time to become familiar. The programme is developing different ways to support staff that reflect what may be needed - with EPR Champions and Super Users, additional help at go-live, and a clear route to raise queries and problems.

Yes. Access is granted based on role. Mandatory training must be completed and signed off before access is given. As with all other staff, people will only have access to the parts of the EPR and to the patient records that they need to do their job or deliver care to individual patients.

No. There will be a single login for the EPR. You can access the system at any of our sites using the same credentials. Only people with a legitimate reason to access patient records will have this access.

Many will be. Some specialist systems will stay alongside the EPR, with information flowing between them. The EPR will continue to be developed over the coming years with more of our current systems replaced. If you have a question about a specific system please speak to a member of the EPR team.

The programme will share our approach to this before go-live. The detail of what moves, what stays and for how long is being confirmed.

Training will be based on the job you do and will happen before go-live. People will have access to both e-learning and classroom training. The format and timings will be shared closer to go-live.

If your role uses the EPR, then yes. Training covers clinical, nursing, pharmacy, theatres, therapies, diagnostics, admin, access and admissions, medical records, coding and many other teams. The programme will identify everyone who needs training using trust records like ESR and rotas. You'll only be trained on the parts of the system you actually use.

Training is sized to your role, so it varies. As a guide, good practice points to a minimum of around six hours for effective learning, but your actual requirement depends on what you do in the system. You'll get a clear picture of your hours once the training plan is confirmed.

Training runs in a 12-week window before go-live, so what you learn is fresh when the system goes live. Specific dates for your area will be confirmed and shared by the training team and your line manager.

We're using a blended approach: classroom sessions, interactive e-learning you can do at your own pace, sessions in or near your workplace, and "at the elbow" help during go-live. The mix depends on what you're learning and what suits your role best.

Yes. Courses are built around real patient journeys and the tasks you do, not generic system tours. People who do your kind of work help review and sign off the materials before they're used, so the training reflects how you'll really use the EPR.

Most courses end with a competency check, so you and the trust can be confident you're ready to use the system safely. The training is there to get you to that standard.

You’ll be supported. Before EPR training, staff complete a short basic IT skills check. If it shows you'd benefit from some groundwork first, your line manager will arrange basic IT training so you're ready to get the most from the EPR sessions. The check covers tablets and mobile devices too, where those apply to your role.

You won't have to work it out yourself. The training team publishes the courses and tells line managers who needs to attend, and your manager will help you get booked on. Your attendance is tracked against the list for your role, so nobody gets missed.

For the first few weeks of the EPR, you'll have super users from your own area, plus floorwalkers giving hands-on help where you work. Behind them sit the EPR change team, subject matter experts and supplier support. You'll also have quick reference guides, "how to" guides and a FAQ. The aim is help at your elbow, not a ticket in a queue.

A super user is a colleague from your own area who gets extra training and helps the rest of the team during and after go-live. Because they know both the system and your day-to-day work, they can answer questions and feed common issues back to the programme. Some may get extra permissions to help sort access problems on the spot.

Yes. The trusts will make sure staff with additional needs can take part fully and benefit from training. If you have specific requirements, raise them with your manager or the training team early so arrangements are in place.

The programme knows staffing changes, rotations and agency use create training needs at different times, and the plan is being built to accommodate that. The aim is that anyone using the EPR is trained before they use it. Specific arrangements will be confirmed and shared.

You won't be left without it. Training carries on after go-live to catch anyone who couldn't attend beforehand and to cover new starters. If you miss a session, speak to your manager or the training team and they'll get you booked onto a later one.

Refreshers and reference material stay available. You'll have "how to" and quick reference guides plus an FAQ on the trust intranet, e-learning you can repeat, and ongoing peer support from Super Users in your area. The system doesn't stop being supported once formal training ends.

There will be a learning curve while everyone becomes familiar with the system, so new ways of working may feel slower at first. However, NWEPR is designed to reduce duplication, not add to it. Recording information once, in one place, should make processes smoother and support safer care over time.

Instead of switching between multiple systems or waiting for notes, you'll have one place to record and find patient information. Observations, assessments, care plans, medications, referrals and results will be available in real time to the teams involved in a patient’s care.

No. The aim is to reduce time spent searching for information, chasing records or documenting the same information more than once, giving you more time to focus on patient care.

Many paper forms and processes will be replaced by digital records, although some paper documents may still be needed during the transition.

NWEPR brings together up-to-date clinical information in one place and includes safety features such as alerts for allergies, adverse drug reactions, deterioration and other patient risks, supporting decision making.

No. NWEPR is a tool to support decision-making, not make decisions for you.

Everyone involved in a patient’s care will be working from the same live patient record, making it easier to see the latest observations, assessments, care plans, medications, test results and outstanding actions.

Their electronic record moves with them across wherever they are within all sites of our three acute hospitals. Their care team in each site will be able to see their latest information immediately.

Yes. Patients should only need to tell their health story once and it will be recorded in the EPR, along with care and treatment information – available to all those with a legitimate need to see it. This saves them having to keep telling different staff about their health and symptoms.

Everyone will receive role-specific training before go-live, opportunities to practise using the system and support on wards and departments during implementation.

Talk to your manager, your trust's EPR change lead, or your Change Network representative. There is no expectation that everyone will feel ready straight away. The programme is designed with that in mind - there will be support before, during and after go-live. Questions you do not have answers to yet are worth raising; the programme team wants to hear them. Speak to the change team at your hospital or contact the EPR Team via the contact form on this website.

If you have a question about the EPR programme that is not covered on this site, you can speak to your EPR Champion or Superuser. You can also contact the EPR Team.
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