SimEPR
Software FAQs · SimEPR

Closing the Digital Gap: What Simulated Electronic Patient Records Can Do for Healthcare Education

As the NHS moves towards a digital-by-default model of care, the gap between how students are trained and how healthcare is delivered is becoming harder to ignore. This piece explores the evidence for simulated electronic patient record (EPR) systems as a practical, curriculum-ready response and looks at how platforms like SimEPR are being used in UK teaching settings today.

Sim & Skills April 8 Minutes
Section 1 of 6

The environment students enter, and why EPR training hasn't kept pace

The NHS 10 Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, firmly positions the NHS's future as a digital-by-default clinical environment, with a digital infrastructure offering technological efficiencies that staff can benefit from. According to the 2025 Digital Maturity Assessment, 93% of NHS providers had an electronic patient record (EPR) system by 2025 — signalling EPR technology's shift from progressive feature to operational baseline.

As clinical settings have digitised, the gap between how healthcare is delivered and how it is simulated has widened. Instead of simulated EPRs, most simulation training still relies on paper-based patient records, drug charts and referral forms; systems that no longer reflect the environment students will enter.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to training more than half a million new clinical staff over the next six years, doubling medical school places to 15,000 by 2031/32 and increasing adult nursing training places by 92%. If education doesn't keep pace with the digital environment, the gap will compound with every graduating cohort.

So, the question evolves from whether the NHS has the digital infrastructure to whether the people we're training are ready for it.

93%
of NHS trusts now have an electronic patient record system
NHS England, 2025
Yet most simulation training still uses paper.
Paper-based records, drug charts and referral forms that no longer reflect the clinical environment.
Section 2 of 6

Why EPR training in healthcare education matters: the consequences are already visible

46%
received basic EPR training
44%
received no further training after joining
60%
of doctors want more EPR training
Health Foundation, 2025 · NHS England, 2024

The digital readiness gap has measurable consequences for staff confidence, patient safety, and the institutions responsible for producing practice-ready graduates. 60% of doctors and 70% of nurses would welcome additional EPR training — fully qualified practitioners aren't fully confident, and the gap starts with graduates.

44% of NHS staff reported receiving no further EPR training after joining their organisation. Fewer than half received training on EPR basics (46%) and role-specific training (49%). That learning curve arrives on day one of employment — when the stakes are highest and support is most variable.

A November 2025 thematic review by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, examining 112 investigations, identified insufficient EPR training as a contributing factor in incidents where patient care was missed, delayed or incorrect.

NHS England echoes the call for greater training, asserting in their digital-by-default updates that the next phase of digital transformation depends on sustained investment in skills, training and change management which will be essential to turning digital capability into real improvements in care.

Section 3 of 6

What is a simulated EPR? Definition, purpose, and what it isn't

A simulated electronic patient record is a purpose-built educational platform that replicates the interface, function and workflow of a clinical electronic patient record, rather than just a digitisation of paper. Learners interact with it as though it were a live system — reading patient notes, reviewing observations and results, requesting tests, prescribing and documenting clinical decisions, all within controlled simulated scenarios.

Simulated EPR
Live EPR Sandbox
Paper-based
Purpose
Skill acquisition & transferable EPR fluency
Vendor-specific system orientation
Clinical reasoning practice
Control
Faculty-controlled with real-time monitoring
IT / vendor managed
Educator-prepared print
Students can
Read, prescribe, order tests, document decisions
Navigate menus, view sample records
Read printed notes, fill paper charts
Scenarios
Yes — built-in tools
No
Manual only
Scale
1 to 250+ students
Limited by licence seats
Limited by print volume

Simulated EPRs are also diverse in their discipline deployment. They are relevant to medicine, nursing, pharmacy, radiography, and any other clinical discipline that uses EPR in practice. A single platform can serve multiple programmes. With the NHS Digital Academy explicitly naming simulated EPR training for students at university level as a curriculum priority, the case for integrating these tools into healthcare education programmes is increasingly well-supported.

Section 4 of 6

What does the evidence say about simulated EPR training?

Two systematic reviews published in 2025 point consistently to improvements in self-confidence, documentation accuracy and digital competency following structured simulated EPR training.

A scoping review in Clinical Simulation in Nursing, covering 12 studies published between 2013 and 2024, found that simulation-based EMR education consistently improved self-confidence, documentation accuracy and informatics competency among participants. High-fidelity simulations using standardised patients or manikins were the most prevalent and effective modality.

A systematic review in BMC Health Services Research (Queen's University Belfast) recommends hands-on simulated learning environments as a means of building digital confidence in healthcare professionals, and advocates for their integration into both undergraduate curricula and continuing professional development programmes.

Most studies in this field rely on self-reported confidence over objective performance metrics, and long-term impacts on clinical performance post-qualification remain to be researched. But the literature's direction of travel supports the idea that structured, curriculum-integrated EPR simulation training builds digital preparedness in a way that on-the-job exposure alone is unlikely to achieve.

Key finding
"Simulation-based EMR education consistently improved self-confidence, documentation accuracy and informatics competency."
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 2025
Read the research
Use of electronic medical records in simulated nursing education: A scoping review
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, March 2025
Read the research
Enhancing digital readiness and capability in healthcare: a systematic review
BMC Health Services Research, April 2025
Section 5 of 6

SimEPR: A simulated EPR in UK healthcare education — Case study

SimEPR is a UK-developed simulated patient record platform, created by GP Dr Arron Thind in direct response to the digital gap he encountered during his own clinical training. So far it has been implemented across universities and NHS teaching settings in the UK and Australia.

SimEPR
Single-patient simulation
Designed for the simulation suite alongside a manikin or standardised patient. One device in the sim room, one in the control room. Faculty monitor and push results in real time.
SimWard
Collaborative ward-based simulation
Up to 15 patients. Multiple students collaborate on shared patient care. Supports physical ward settings and tabletop exercises. No student-specific logins required.
SimClass
Independent asynchronous learning
Up to 250 students working independently on objective-based activities. Suitable for case-based learning, OSCEs, and SPL Placements. Faculty review after session.
86%
more realistic
83%
improved learning
209 trainees · International Journal of Healthcare Simulation
"Our partner trusts have really noticed the difference in the confidence and competence of our students since using SimEPR."
Lynsey McLeish
Head of Skills and Simulation, Buckinghamshire New University

Data published in the International Journal of Healthcare Simulation, drawn from 209 trainees across medical schools and NHS trusts in the South East of England, found that 86% reported SimEPR created a more realistic training experience than paper-based notes, and 83% said it improved their clinical learning.

SimEPR supports Simulated Practice Learning (SPL) Placements and other tariff-funded programmes through digital activity logs which demonstrate and protect SPL hours — a significant practical consideration for universities managing tariff-funded simulation delivery.

SimEPR is a web-based platform with no installation required, so learners and educators can use existing devices like computers and tablets without the need for specialist hardware or infrastructure.

Section 6 of 6

The lay of the EPR competency landscape

The NHS is asking its workforce to be digitally fluent in the new tools rolled out across the trusts. The question for educators is whether training programmes are giving learners the environment to hone those skills before they arrive in clinical settings.

The evidence is consistent: structured training builds the digital readiness that clinical environments now require. So, now it remains for institutions to reduce the distance between how care is simulated and how it will be delivered in practice.

For anyone exploring how simulated EPRs could fit within their curriculum, the SimEPR product page and the Sim & Skills team are a practical starting point.

SimEPR Product Page Contact Sim & Skills
Sources
1. NHS 10 Year Health Plan ('Fit for the Future'), DHSC, July 2025. ↗
2. 2025 Digital Maturity Assessment / 2024 EPR Usability Survey, NHS England, March 2026. ↗
3. NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, NHS England, 2023. ↗
4. Electronic patient record systems in England: what do NHS staff think? The Health Foundation, March 2026. ↗
5. Insufficient EPR training contributes to risk of patient harm. HSSIB thematic review, November 2025. ↗
6. NHS England on digital-by-default, EPR adoption, optimisation. HTN Health Tech News, April 2026. ↗
7. NHS Digital Academy — contribution to the analogue to digital shift. NHS England, February 2025. ↗
8. Use of electronic medical records in simulated nursing education: A scoping review. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, March 2025. ↗
9. Enhancing digital readiness and capability in healthcare: a systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, April 2025. ↗
10. SimEPR outcome data — multi-centre study, NHS England South East / Health Innovation KSS. International Journal of Healthcare Simulation. ↗
Prepared by Sim & Skills content team. Research cut-off: April 2026. All sources verified accessible at time of publication.

More from Sim & Skills

View all