Debate contribution: Encompass: Costs
Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on .
- MLA
- Mr Robbie Butler
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 12 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Encompass: Costs
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5786365
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I have too many pages in this folder. The figure of £20 million represents not a sudden or unexplained overspend on Encompass but an increase of approximately £19·9 million between the original in-year capital requirement and the programme's latest forecast. The largest element is approximately £10 million arising from an uplift in Epic licensing costs. A further £4·8 million relates to additional implementation team costs, including programme management and organisational support, with approximately £1·6 million relating to the extension of external resources. Additional hardware requirements account for just over £1 million, with the balance arising from other movements and increases across existing capital lines. Together, those changes increased the forecast capital requirement from approximately £15 million to £34·9 million. Encompass is now live across all five health and social care trusts. The scale of its adoption has been significantly greater than originally anticipated. That is a positive indication of how extensively the system is now embedded across Health and Social Care. However, the costs associated with operating and supporting a live regional system also need to be properly understood and managed sustainably.
182 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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