‘US experts flown in to solve hospital computer crisis’
STAFF CLAIM URGENT ACTION TAKEN TO SOLVE CHAOS CAUSED BY TECHNICAL ISSUES
IT experts are being brought in from the USA to solve more than a week of chaos caused by computer glitches at four of Greater Manchester’s biggest hospitals, according to staff on the ground.
The hospital trust marshalling the IT fixes – the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) – says it has made ‘some positive progress’ diagnosing and resolving the problems affecting the Royal Oldham, Fairfield General, Rochdale Infirmary, and North Manchester General.
However, staff say that while some functions have been restored, there are still significant problems with all sorts of systems – including those used to look up test results, electronically prescribe medications and track patients as they move through the hospitals.
The IT issues have caused problems for nine days, having first started on May 18. NHS staff have said ‘thousands’ of patients are being affected by delays to care, including cancellations of appointments and surgeries.
Medics from across the hospitals affected, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the delays are continuing.
One senior hospital source said that while some functionality has been restored, significant work must be done before the IT programs can resume fully, adding that they ‘can’t see the problem being sorted out this week.’
The IT outages have been ‘significant and prolonged,’ causing ‘significant disruption,’ added the source.
Continuity plans have moved wards from an online setup to a paper system. The paper system is functional, according to one senior hospital source, although staff admit that typically fast tasks are now taking much longer as everything has to be handwritten.
But in the absence of digital records, doctors have told the M.E.N. they are ‘losing patients’ who have been admitted to hospital as they move from ward to ward.
The M.E.N. has approached the NCA, NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care for comment.
The government has said that as the IT concerns ‘are not a national issue,’ it would not get involved ‘unless it becomes a bigger problem.’
Another NHS source spoken to says ‘experts are being brought in from abroad’ to help.
On Wednesday, Dr Chris Brookes, deputy CEO and chief medical officer for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust, which operates Fairfield General, the Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary, said: “Our Digital IT team and suppliers have made some positive progress overnight in diagnosing and resolving the IT problems currently affecting a number of our systems across Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester General Hospital sites, however critical systems will only be rolled out after they have been tested and declared fit to use.
“We are still at critical incident status and using our business continuity plans and paper process to maintain essential services and patient care. This is having an operational impact on our services meaning slower and delayed services, and impact on patient flow in and out of our hospitals. Patient safety is our priority.
“Where a patient has their surgery cancelled it will be rebooked as soon as possible. I’d like to apologise to anyone affected, and their families, for the inconvenience, especially anyone who has had surgery cancelled at short notice. Patients who have a hospital appointment whether for planned surgery or as an outpatient should continue to attend unless they are contacted directly by the trust and told otherwise.
“Our Emergency Departments remain particularly busy at the moment. We ask that you carefully consider if you really need A&E and your condition is an emergency and life threatening. Please contact 111 or seek advice from your local pharmacy or GP.”