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A failure to share medical information between IT systems contributed to the death of a man in prison custody, a coroner has concluded.

In a newly published report on the death of Finlay Finlayson at HMP Lewes in 2019, the coroner highlighted “information sharing” problems and “permissions issues” between the prison IT system and that of the man’s GP surgery. 

Mr Finlayson died from blood clots in his lungs, having suffered from multiple long-term health conditions including cancer during his life. At the time of his death in 2019, health services at HMP Lewes were provided by Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust, though they are now provided by the Practice Plus Group.

According to the Prevention of Future Deaths report issued last month, coroner Laura Bradford heard evidence that Mr Finlayson’s care was affected by “confusion and uncertainty about his medical conditions caused by information sharing and permissions issues with SystmOne”.

It appears the GP practice had not enabled sharing of the data, which would have been required for it to be accessed in the prison.

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Source: HSJ, 22 April 2024

Further reading on the hub:

• NHS England warns electronic patient record could pose ‘serious risks to patient safety’: what can we learn?
• The digitalising of patient records — why patients MUST be involved

Medical device companies are paying millions of pounds to hospitals in the UK to fund staff places, as well as training and awareness campaigns, while pushing sales of their products, including implants, heart valves and diagnostic equipment, a new report reveals.

An analysis of disclosures by medical device companies found that between 2017 and 2019 they reported €425m (£367m at today’s rates) in payments to healthcare organisations in Europe, according to the study in the journal Health Policy and Technology.

The businesses reported paying more than €37m to hospitals and other healthcare bodies in the UK over the three-year period. The disclosures include payments to some of the biggest hospital trusts in England.

James Larkin, one of the authors of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, said the filings did not include consultancy fees for medical staff and many companies did not register their payments. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “There is a huge number of payments that are not being disclosed. The descriptions for payments which are disclosed are very vague and it is not completely clear what they are for.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 April 2024