Trusts warn of continued care delay as IT outage goes on

Mental health trusts continue to suffer much disruption after a cyber attack left them unable to access their electronic patient records.

Several trusts which use Advanced’s CareNotes EPR are grappling with the system being down, although the company said on Friday some progress had been made to restore the EPR.

One source at an affected mental health trust said there had been “not much in the way of improvements”, while another said they feared it could be “months” before they can fully access the EPR.

NHS England’s mental health director Claire Murdoch is regularly raising issue nationally, HSJ was told, as response teams work with Advanced to investigate and restore IT systems, which were taken offline after the company was hit by a cyber attack two weeks ago.

Hereford and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust has told its patients they might have to “provide more detail on your medical history to ensure clinicians have the most up-to-date information”, while Oxford Health Foundation Trust warned the technical issues could cause delays to patient care.

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Source: HSJ, 21 August 2022