Patients’ lives put at risk ‘while NHS waits for a fax’

MEDICAL leaders have criticised NHS managers’ “farcical” reliance on outdated fax machines.

A report by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) reveals the NHS still has 9,000 fax machines that it uses for sending crucial patient information. This could mean medical records not keeping up with patients and lead to mistakes in critical situations,

A report by technology experts Deepmind Health last year revealed that the NHS is the world’s largest purchaser of fax machines.

However, it has emerged that many front-line doctors are resorting to sending sensitive information across non-sanctioned smartphone platforms such as Whatsapp. Richard Kerr, the chairman of the RCS’S commission into the future of surgery, said: “As digital technologies begin to play a much bigger role in how we deliver healthcare, it’s absolutely imperative that we invest in better ways of sharing and communicating all of the patient data that is going to be generated. The NHS cannot continue to rely on a technology most other organisations scrapped in the early 2000s.”

The report found Newcastle upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had the highest use of fax machines in England, with 603 on the premises.

Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust was the next biggest user, with 400, while Barts Health NHS Trust in London was found to have 369.

In 2013, Jeremy Hunt, then health secretary, said the NHS should “go paperless” by 2018 in an effort to “save billions” and improve services.

Mr Kerr said: “Fax machines were in popular use about the last time England were in a World Cup semi-final – despite all the years of hurt, NHS fax machines are still gleaming.

“The advances we are beginning to see in the use of artificial intelligence and imaging for healthcare, as well as robot-assisted surgery, promise exciting benefits for NHS patients.

“Yet alongside all of this innovation, NHS hospital trusts remain stubbornly attached to using archaic fax machines for a significant proportion on their communications. This is ludicrous.”

Last month, Theresa May unveiled a £20billion-a-year 70th “birthday present” funding boost for the NHS.

However, NHS Providers, the body that represents hospital managers, said the windfall would merely make up “lost ground” after years of tight funding, rather than enabling innovation.

Doctors’ leaders have consistently called for a secure advanced system for communicating patient data between different parts of the NHS. Currently, medical staff are officially required to contact each other by pager or fax.

But a recent survey of 60 trusts by the British Medical Journal indicated 90 per cent of UK doctors use some form of instant messaging app at work, with 83 per cent admitting to having sent or received a message containing data that could identify a patient.

Many hospital departments, along with local GP networks, privately rely on Whatsapp groups in particular, according to experts.