‘Fragile’ IT blamed for critical incidents and patient harm

Outdated clinical IT systems at a large Midlands hospital trust are harming patients and causing delayed diagnoses and cancelled appointments, its CEO has admitted.

University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust’s chief executive Simon Constable warned the trust was continuing to experience “significant challenges with our digital clinical systems” and described an “excessive number of ‘priority 1’ [serious] incidents over the last 24 months.”

He said the incidents — linked to a long-term lack of funding for upgrades — had been escalated to the Stoke-On-Trent and Staffordshire Integrated Care Board and NHS England.

Mr Constable, who took over as CEO in the autumn, said the digital services team had worked to troubleshoot and create short-term fixes, but the trust’s systems were “highly complex and extremely fragile”, with one platform, called iPortal, more than a decade old and running on “unsupported code”.

He told the board: “As a result, we have experienced ongoing disruption, numerous periods of working in business continuity, and a loss of clinical confidence – all alongside significant winter pressures.” 

Mr Constable said at a “virtual risk summit” held last month about the issues, clinicians “described cancelled appointments, delayed discharges, diagnosis and treatment, staff impact and potential harm”. He said the trust’s business case for a new electronic patient record system had been updated to include the current high risk. 

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Source: HSJ, 20 January 2025