18.09.18
Flawed NHS IT system will cost £7m to fix after discharge blunder affects thousands
An NHS IT system which led to up to 14,600 patients being discharged from hospital without vital medical notes being sent to their GP will cost £7m to fix.
East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust declared a “serious incident” after the Lorenzo system patients record system did not issue discharge summaries to local doctors back in July.
Now, parliamentary questions submitted by the Labour Party have unveiled that it will cost an estimated £7m to stabilise the affected IT systems.
An urgent investigation into the incident was launched by the trust, but to date the trust has not discovered any “specific harms” to patients as a result of the IT blunder.
The Lorenzo software system was first introduced at the trust in September 2017, with around 48,000 patients discharged after the system was introduced – of which around 14,600 might not have had a discharge summary written and sent.
The provider has now set up a ‘Task and Finish’ action group, made up of members of the trust, the local CCG and Hertfordshire GPs, to look into the status of unsent discharge summaries.
It has also been revealed that the patients record system is currently used at 21 NHS trusts in England.
In a statement, East and North Hertfordshire Trust said: “The trust’s foremost priority is to provide our patients with high-quality care that keeps them safe from harm.
“At present, there is no evidence that any patients have come to harm.”
Its medical director Michael Chilvers said the provider takes full responsibility for what has happened, and the trust has noted that it will speak directly to anyone who requires follow-up action.
“These patients will have their records reviewed individually and should any outstanding actions be discovered, the trust will take the lead in getting them sorted – this will include informing any individual patients involved, as well as their GPs,” added Chilvers.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called for a full review of the Lorenzo system, arguing that “years of budget cuts under the Tories have left NHS patients at risk from out of date technology”.
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Image credit - Peter O'Connor