Operations cancelled as hospital IT crashes
OF APPOINTMENTS
OPERATIONS and appointments were cancelled at some of Manchester’s busiest hospitals following an IT failure.
Four hospitals on the Oxford Road site were hit by a ‘network outage’ which affected a number of clinical systems yesterday afternoon.
Patients were asked only to attend A&E for serious or life-threatening emergencies as hospital bosses work to resolve the issue.
Manchester Royal Infirmary, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Manchester Eye Hospital and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital were all affected by the IT problems. The issue was reported late yesterday morning and lasted around four hours.
Medics had to resort to using paper-based patient records while IT experts worked to fix the electronic systems.
The mother of an inpatient at MRI told the M.E.N.: “My daughter was supposed to be getting discharged, but they were having problems issuing prescriptions and it caused delays.
“They were having to write them by hand and couldn’t find her notes or medical history.”
Another patient added: “It was a difficult afternoon, the phones were down, everything was down and they couldn’t find my notes.
“In the end they managed to get a fax over from my GP. It looked like it was causing real problems. The staff dealt with it really well.”
All systems were back up and running by 4.30pm.
Health chiefs said there was nothing to suggest the incident was a result of an IT hack or security breach.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said staff used their ‘well-rehearsed business continuity plans,’ while experts worked to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
All cancelled operations and outpatient appointments will now be rescheduled as soon as possible.
Bosses have thanked patients and staff for their cooperation throughout the day. A spokesperson for the trust said: “Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust experienced a network problem on its Central and Trafford sites which affected access to a number of clinical systems for around four hours. All systems are now back up and running.
“Services used their wellrehearsed business continuity plans, including paper-based patient records, to minimise disruption to patients as far as possible during this period.
“This did mean that a small number of planned operations were postponed and some outpatient activity was also rearranged. We will be rescheduling these as soon as possible.
“We would like to thank patients and our staff for their co-operation and support during this time.”