Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (DHCFT) has announced a new contract with Patients Know Best (PKB), covering their one million patient population and marking a significant expansion of the PKB footprint within the Derby and Derbyshire region.

By joining University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) - which already utilises PKB via the NHS App - Derbyshire Healthcare is strengthening the regional health ecosystem. This alignment enables shared learning and digital synergies, allowing patients to move between acute and mental health services with a single, consolidated record.

Derbyshire Healthcare’s first priority is the rapid implementation of the Wayfinder service within the NHS App. Beyond this immediate implementation, the Trust is focused on driving clinical transformation by utilising the full breadth offered by a personal health record (PHR) platform.

Key objectives for the rollout include:

• Enabling patients to view appointments digitally to improve attendance and convenience.
• Utilising digital notifications and easy access to scheduling to reduce ‘Did Not Attend’ (DNA) rates.
• Moving away from static documents to live, digitally accessible care plans.
• Transitioning from paper-based questionnaires completed during face-to-face appointments to digital versions, saving clinical time and enhancing data accuracy.
• Reducing the environmental and financial costs of physical mail by delivering correspondence digitally.

PKB will be receiving data from the Trust’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR), SystmOne, ensuring that data flows securely and efficiently between clinicians and patients.  This adds to a growing list of Trusts where PKB is working alongside SystmOne including Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust.  

The partnership comes at a milestone moment for Derbyshire Healthcare, which was recently recognised as a national leader in digital health. At the 2025 HSJ Digital Awards, the Trust was named Digital Organisation of the Year, while its School Nursing team claimed the award for ‘Generating Impact in Population Health through Digital.’ This contract further solidifies DHCFT’s commitment to using transformative technology to improve population health. 

The agreement is the latest in a recent spate of contracts that has seen Patients Know Best’s presence in the mental health sector surge. The platform now supports over 38% of all Mental Health Trusts in England. By operating seamlessly across diverse clinical environments, PKB continues to prove its value as a truly system-agnostic platform, capable of unifying the patient experience regardless of the underlying infrastructure.

Maria Riley, Director of Transformation and PMO at Derbyshire Healthcare said:

“Here at Derbyshire Healthcare, we understand the value of creating a data-driven journey for patients, from their first contact with us. We believe we can give people a more personalised experience, and at the same time free up our frontline colleagues to focus on providing care. This is one of several digital innovations we are making this year as we look to improve patient experience, reduce waiting times and make the Trust a better place to work.”      

Chris Marsh, Head of Customer Operations at Patients Know Best said:

"We are delighted to expand our presence within the Derby and Derbyshire region. By bringing Derbyshire Healthcare onto the PKB platform alongside UHDB, we are creating a more joined-up digital pathway for patients. It is great to enable synergies and shared learning within one region, ensuring that whether a patient is accessing acute care or mental health services, they have a consistent, empowered experience through our integration with NHS App."