A NEW £43-m system to streamline healthcare provided by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) has been delayed.

RCHT’s acting CEO has said that the trust was not sufficiently assured that going live with the e-Care system as planned this month “would consistently support safe patient care and service continuity across all areas.”

eCare is the name of the proposed new electronic patient record system. The £43-million platform unifies digital and paper-based records to provide doctors and nurses with a single, real-time view of patient information across all trust locations.

The system is designed to streamline healthcare delivery across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

RCHT were approached for a comment about the system’s progress after being contacted by members of the public who were concerned that it was not being introduced this month as originally planned.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We have taken the decision to reset the timing of go‑live to give us more time to ensure the system launches safely and successfully.

“Patient care is our top priority and we will only go ahead when we are fully confident everything is fully in place to support staff and maintain the high standards of care patients expect.

“This is a complex programme and the decision to delay demonstrates robust clinical leadership, strong programme governance and alignment with national best practice for major digital deployments. We are continuing work on the programme and expect to confirm a revised go‑live timeline in the coming weeks.”

The trust’s programme team is currently mapping the new timeline and any additional costs are not yet determined.

The key features and benefits of the e-Care system include:

  • Unified clinical records: Consolidates a patchwork of legacy systems so doctors and nurses can access up-to-date medical histories instantly.
  • Patient portal: Allows patients to directly view their health records and manage their hospital appointments.
  • Increased efficiency: Reduces administrative burdens, giving clinicians more time to spend on direct patient care.
  • Improved safety: Supports clinical workflows with built-in safety features, reducing the risks associated with manual or fragmented record-keeping.

Acting RCHT chief executive officer Kim O’Keeffe said in a report in May that “while the programme has made substantial progress, we were not sufficiently assured that going live in June 2026 would consistently support safe patient care and service continuity across all areas.

“The work completed to date provides strong foundations and we will confirm revised timelines and next steps in the coming weeks. Our focus remains on going live successfully, safely and sustainably, in a way that supports integrated working and high-quality care”.