5 hours agoSharon Barbour,Nat WrightGetty ImagesIT system failures have been linked to the deaths of three patients and more than 100 instances of serious harm at NHS hospital trusts in England, BBC News has found.A Freedom of Information request also found 200,000 medical letters had gone unsent due to widespread problems with NHS computer systems.Nearly half of hospital trusts with electronic patient systems reported issues that could affect patients.NHS England says it has invested £900m over the past two years to help introduce new and improved systems.Introducing computerised records and making the NHS paperless is a government priority in England. The aim is for everyone’s health information to be accessible to GPs, hospitals and care homes at the touch of a button.But there have been numerous false starts. The latest deadline, set by the Department of Health and Social Care, is now 2026.Some hospital trusts have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on new electronic patient record (EPR) systems, but BBC News has discovered many are experiencing major problems with how they work.’He was our rock’Erroll SmithSeparate to our FOI investigation, coroners have highlighted the role that hospital IT systems have played in the deaths of some patients. Twenty-two-year-old Darnell Smith’s case is one example. “He was our rock, you know. He had a big personality. Words can’t really explain how much he was to us…” says Erroll Smith of his son, Darnell.Darnell had sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy and was non-verbal. He was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, in Sheffield, with a cough and cold-like symptoms and a reduced appetite, in November 2022.He should have had his vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure and temperature – checked by staff every hour for a minimum of six hours – but there were no checks for more than 12.Staff were not aware of Darnell’s particular needs because his personal care plan was not easily visible in the hospital’s computerised records, a coroner later concluded.His father told BBC News: “For me, the IT system should be set up in a way where you have to see it… you know – it just doesn’t allow you to move any further until you’ve read what you’re supposed to read.”Several hours after his care plan came to light, Darnell was admitted to critical care and was put on a ventilator the next morning. He died from pneumonia two weeks later.Following an inquest, the coroner warned of a “real risk of further deaths” if doctors couldn’t access important information about patients’ care needs.Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust has apologised for the care Darnell received. They say they have already made changes to limit the chances of this happening again and a new IT system is being introduced this year.In September, we reported that more than 24,000 letters from Newcastle hospitals had not been sent from their EPR system and more …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn5 hours agoSharon Barbour,Nat WrightGetty ImagesIT system failures have been linked to the deaths of three patients and more than 100 instances of serious harm at NHS hospital trusts in England, BBC News has found.A Freedom of Information request also found 200,000 medical letters had gone unsent due to widespread problems with NHS computer systems.Nearly half of hospital trusts with electronic patient systems reported issues that could affect patients.NHS England says it has invested £900m over the past two years to help introduce new and improved systems.Introducing computerised records and making the NHS paperless is a government priority in England. The aim is for everyone’s health information to be accessible to GPs, hospitals and care homes at the touch of a button.But there have been numerous false starts. The latest deadline, set by the Department of Health and Social Care, is now 2026.Some hospital trusts have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on new electronic patient record (EPR) systems, but BBC News has discovered many are experiencing major problems with how they work.’He was our rock’Erroll SmithSeparate to our FOI investigation, coroners have highlighted the role that hospital IT systems have played in the deaths of some patients. Twenty-two-year-old Darnell Smith’s case is one example. “He was our rock, you know. He had a big personality. Words can’t really explain how much he was to us…” says Erroll Smith of his son, Darnell.Darnell had sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy and was non-verbal. He was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, in Sheffield, with a cough and cold-like symptoms and a reduced appetite, in November 2022.He should have had his vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure and temperature – checked by staff every hour for a minimum of six hours – but there were no checks for more than 12.Staff were not aware of Darnell’s particular needs because his personal care plan was not easily visible in the hospital’s computerised records, a coroner later concluded.His father told BBC News: “For me, the IT system should be set up in a way where you have to see it… you know – it just doesn’t allow you to move any further until you’ve read what you’re supposed to read.”Several hours after his care plan came to light, Darnell was admitted to critical care and was put on a ventilator the next morning. He died from pneumonia two weeks later.Following an inquest, the coroner warned of a “real risk of further deaths” if doctors couldn’t access important information about patients’ care needs.Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust has apologised for the care Darnell received. They say they have already made changes to limit the chances of this happening again and a new IT system is being introduced this year.In September, we reported that more than 24,000 letters from Newcastle hospitals had not been sent from their EPR system and more …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
