Leading with digital vision

DGFT has been on its digital transformation journey, working in partnership with Altera Digital Health since 2016. This collaboration has most recently led to a significant upgrade of the Sunrise EPR system, moving from version 17.3 to version 22.1 in 2025. The upgrade highlights the trust's broader digital vision of harnessing technology to drive innovation, transform patient care and optimise operational processes for the future.

DGFT, with a Digital Maturity Assessment[1] score of 3-above the national average-is making strong progress in embedding digital practices throughout its operations. These efforts are closely aligned with clinical needs, ensuring the system remains an effective and dependable tool for daily use.

The trust's investment in Sunrise EPR reflects leadership's commitment to ongoing improvement, informed by feedback from their users and is shaping their organisational priorities.

Safety and continuity

The complexity of moving five major versions forward necessitated meticulous planning, clinical engagement and cross-functional collaboration. With safety and continuity as top priorities, DGFT embarked on a coordinated programme that addressed the technical, operational and human factors of the transition.

Months ahead of the upgrade, clinical and operational leads worked together with the digital team to map existing workflows, pre-empt challenges and design targeted solutions. Communications were tailored to equip staff with practical guidance on the changes and to ensure confidence in the system's reliability.

On the day of the upgrade, the trust executed a carefully orchestrated transition that successfully brought systems offline, reconciled patient data and restored functionality-all within nine hours. Support teams were embedded on hospital floors, resolving issues in real time to maintain momentum and trust. Business continuity solutions were rolled out, including reports enabling staff to access essential data during downtime.

The simultaneous move to cloud-based infrastructure amplified the resilience and scalability of the platform, preparing DGFT for future operational demands and integrations.

Flexibility and user-centred design

Flexibility and user-centred design were fundamental in improving functionality during the EPR upgrade and lay the foundations for further development.

"The flexibility and user-centred design of our upgraded EPR platform have truly transformed the way our teams deliver care. By tailoring digital workflows to the realities of clinical practice, we've empowered our staff to focus on what matters most, high-quality and safe patient care. The result is a system that adapts to our needs, not the other way around, supporting efficient, safe and responsive healthcare for every patient."

Helen Bromage

Chief Nursing Information Officer, DGFT

Some of the most impactful enhancements include:

• Sunrise Compass module deployment:
  A significant advancement is the introduction of the Compass module for task management. By centralising the sharing of patient-related tasks into a unified view, Compass fundamentally reshapes how care is coordinated across wards and departments. The move away from informal, fragmented processes eliminates duplication and enhances both accountability and timeliness in patient care. With clearer delineation of responsibilities and improved team communication, the risk of missed results or actions is minimised, ensuring that our commitment to our values particularly care and responsibility translates directly into safer outcomes for our patients. This module is not just a technical upgrade but an important step in embedding trust values into everyday practice.
• Enhanced workflow manager:
  Task assignment, alerting and visibility tools were optimised, enabling clinicians to prioritise and manage responsibilities more effectively. This aligns digital workflows with the pace of clinical care, reducing bottlenecks and improving system usability.
• Pause-and-resume documentation:
  New functionality enables clinicians to save work-in-progress documentation, ensuring flexibility in complex workflows while reducing the risk of lost data.
• Advanced search features:
  A redesigned search for order communications and test results enables clinicians to find critical patient information more quickly through filters and keywords. This streamlines decision-making and supports timely interventions.
• Interactive trend views:
  Post-upgrade, DGFT implemented trend views mapping vital signs and blood glucose levels alongside insulin administration data. These intuitive overlays provide clinical staff with actionable insights at a glance.
• Streamlined user interfaces:
  Faster, more responsive interface designs save time and improve usability, with feedback-driven adjustments ensuring alignment with real-world practice.

Internal capability

The flexibility of Altera's EPR and the ability for it to be configured as needed by its users (along with the trust's in-house development team) stand out as a critical enabler of success. Since 2018, this team has delivered hundreds of tailored EPR improvements, covering everything from specialty-specific workflows to clinical safety measures. With the upgrade to version 22.1, the internal team leveraged this flexibility to go beyond basic adoption, actively customising new functionality to better fit local needs.

Operational and patient impact

The benefits delivered by this upgrade go beyond technical changes, they are visible in daily operations and patient outcomes. Clinical staff report smoother workflows, reduced delays and better task clarity, enabling safer and more efficient care. Improved interfaces reduce pressures on clinicians, while faster system performance and better alerting structures enhance clinical safety.

These improvements align with DGFT's digital maturity trajectory. Already a Level 3 organisation, the changes delivered by version 22.1 strengthen the EPR's capacity to support higher-level analytics, interoperability and population health efforts.

Ready for the future

The Sunrise 22.1 upgrade represents a foundation for upcoming advancements. DGFT is leveraging the enhanced EPR environment to focus on emerging priorities, including:

• Decision support expansion: Developing intuitive tools to guide clinicians in complex treatment decisions.
• Regional integration: Aligning systems with Black Country Integrated Care Providers, supporting seamless data sharing and care coordination across organisational boundaries.
• New hospital build: The upgraded EPR serves as the backbone for the digital infrastructure in Dudley's upcoming hospital, ensuring scalability and resilience.

Training programmes are embedded into trust operations, continuously equipping staff to make optimal use of the system while fostering a culture of digital competence. Dashboards and analytics tools are being refined to offer deeper insights into both patient care and operational management. The project's structured approach, grounded in clinical engagement and agile development, is shaping future initiatives-from enhanced patient flow to predictive population health challenges.

DGFT's EPR upgrade to version 22.1 highlights, how digital transformation can be achieved when flexibility, strategic ambition and staff engagement are prioritised. Delivered safely, on time and with strong collaboration between the trust and Altera Digital Health, the project has improved the coordination of care, enhanced patient safety and empowered clinical teams to work efficiently with tools tailored to their needs.

"Beyond immediate benefits, this upgrade signals a broader commitment to developing our digital excellence, cementing DGFT's position as a leader in the Black Country with EPR innovation. With versatile functionality and a future-ready platform in place, the DGFT is well-equipped to drive the next phase of healthcare transformation for our local communities and beyond. The flexibility of Sunrise EPR has been essential to achieving our current digital growth and preparing for future developments."

Helen Bromage
CNIO, DGFT

 [1] https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/connecteddigitalsystems/digital-maturity-assessment/