by Owen Hughes
Responses to a freedom of knowledge (FOI) request despatched by BBC Information to acute trusts in England discovered 126 cases of great hurt linked to IT points throughout 31 trusts, together with three affected person deaths.
Of the 116 trusts that responded to the FOI request, 89 reported cases of issues with their digital affected person file (EPR) methods that put sufferers liable to hurt, whereas practically 60 trusts reported IT points that would impression affected person care, BBC Information reported on 30 Might 2024.
Three deaths throughout two acute hospital trusts occurred on account of EPR issues, BBC Information mentioned.
The FOI request additionally revealed that nearly half of trusts recorded cases of potential affected person hurt linked to their IT methods and greater than 200,000 medical letters from 21 trusts weren’t despatched on account of issues with IT methods.
Responding to the report, Professor Erika Denton, nationwide medical director for transformation at NHS England, advised the BBC that NHSE has invested virtually £900 million in “new and improved” IT methods over the previous two years as a part of long-standing efforts to exchange paper information.
“Nevertheless, like all system, it’s important that they’re launched and operated to excessive requirements, and NHS England is working carefully with trusts to evaluation any issues raised and supply extra help and steerage on the protected use of their methods when required,” Professor Denton mentioned.
BBC Information reported in February 2024 that an inquest concluded that the dying of Emily Kate Harkleroad on 19 December 2022 may have been prevented.
The inquest discovered {that a} newly-implemented Cerner IT system at College Hospital of North Durham didn’t establish Harkleroad as critically sick, contributing to a delay in her receiving blood-thinning remedy wanted for a blood clot on her lung.
A report to forestall future deaths was issued by Rebecca Sutton the assistant coroner for County Durham and Darlington on 5 February 2024 to the chief medical director of the County Durham and Darlington NHS Basis Belief and Oracle Well being UK, following the dying.
Via its FOI requestS, BBC Information mentioned it discovered that greater than 2,000 potential affected person hurt incidents and three severe instances at County Durham and Darlington NHS FT have been linked to the IT system.
Oracle, which bought Cerner in December 2021, advised BBC Information in an announcement: “Whereas there isn’t any suggestion that software program was at fault on this case, we proceed to work carefully with our NHS companions to implement profitable programmes that assist them ship the most secure and simplest look after the 16 million residents our methods help within the UK.”
County Durham and Darlington NHS FT advised BBC Information it was taking the coroners’ report “extraordinarily severely”.