Maternity units disrupted for nine months by IT fault

An IT fault has prevented several major maternity units in South London from properly storing foetal heart monitoring records for more than nine months, HSJ has learned.

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group (GESH) and Kingston and Richmond Foundation Trust have confirmed they are affected by a problem which prevents cardiotocography (CTG) traces from being automatically downloaded and stored.

A manual workaround has been put in place, which the trusts said ensured CTG traces were captured and safely stored, but the fault is not yet fixed.

CTGs can track a baby’s heart rate and a mother’s contractions during labour and are often critical evidence in clinical negligence investigations.

Board papers from GESH, published in September, said CTG traces from Neoventa STAN machines were not being downloaded or stored as expected.

It warned that the absence of CTG traces “presents a clinical and legal risk”, given their frequent role in determining breach of duty in clinical negligence claims.

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Source: HSJ, 3 October 2025