Three patient deaths and over 100 cases of significant harm at NHS hospital trusts in England have been connected to IT system breakdowns, according to News.
Additionally, 200,000 medical letters were not distributed as a result of extensive issues with NHS computer systems, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Almost half of hospital trusts that used electronic patient records identified issues that could affect patients.
According to NHS England, it has spent £900 million in the last two years to support the implementation of new and enhanced systems.
Encouraging computerized records and a paperless NHS are top priorities for the English government. The idea is for general practitioners, hospitals, and assisted living facilities to have instant access to each person’s health records.
However, there have been many false beginnings. The Department of Health and Social Care has now established 2026 as the latest date.
Despite spending hundreds of millions of pounds on new electronic patient record (EPR) systems, several hospital trusts are finding significant issues with their functionality, according to News.
Coroners have brought attention to the part hospital IT systems have played in some patients’ deaths, independent of our FOI probe. The case of twenty-two-year-old Darnell Smith is one such.
