IT chaos at four of the region’s major hospitals are expected to roll into next week as it still hasn't been fixed, say worried staff. The turbulent technology is wreaking havoc on patients and staff - causing disruptions to electronic prescribing of medicines, tracking patients as they are treated on wards, and reliably finding test results.
The failures have hit Royal Oldham, Fairfield General , Rochdale Infirmary , and North Manchester General for more than a week. Now medics have warned the delays could last for another week as IT experts have been drafted in from abroad to try to fix the major issue. Another staff member added ‘some systems were back up’ but others were not.
The trust has ruled out any cyber-attack, malware or hacking incident, saying all patient records and personal data held remain secure and unaffected. A cause for the failure has yet to be formally shared, however, with the ' primary focus being on restoration of the digital IT systems'. Once services are fully restored, detailed root cause analysis work will be done by the trust's digital IT team.
The strain on patients and staff comes despite continuity plans which have moved wards from an online setup to a paper system. The paper system is functional and is 'working', according to one senior hospital source, staff admit that typically fast tasks are now taking much longer as 'everything has to be handwritten'.
Without a digital record, doctors have told the M.E.N. they are ‘losing patients’ who have been admitted to hospital as they move from ward to ward. This could result in ‘missed deterioration’, they fear, among other complications.
A medic, speaking on the condition of anonymity, has slammed the fallout from the IT crash as 'dangerous' as staff say they are doing longer shifts to deal with the delays, sharing: "One radiographer did a 24-hour shift, patients spending hours at the Royal Oldham Hospital with no [IT] system and then being transferred to North Manchester with no system.
“There was one photocopier was working in the whole hospital last night - when everyone is working on paper. It’s a joke and dangerous."
The hospital trust in charge of the IT fixes has said it has made ‘some positive progress’ diagnosing and resolving the IT problems. However, ‘critical systems’ which have been offline will only be rolled back out ‘after they have been tested and declared fit to use’.
The IT issues have now a stranglehold on the hospitals for nine days, and look set to continue, after first starting on May 18. NHS staff have said that ‘thousands’ of patients are being affected by delays to care, including cancellations of appointments and surgeries.
Have you been affected by the IT chaos? Call the M.E.N. newsdesk on 0161 211 2920 or email helena.vesty@reachplc.com
A range of applications, including systems used to look up test results, electronically prescribe medications, and track patients as they move, have been brought to a crawl or are completely inaccessible, the Manchester Evening News understands. As staff attempt to load records or data up on a screen, nothing appears, or comes at a very slow pace.
Some functionalities have returned, according to the senior source, but IT outages have been 'significant and prolonged', causing 'significant disruption'. IT experts are being 'brought in from abroad' to solve more than a week of chaos at four of Greater Manchester's biggest hospitals hamstrung by technical glitches, according to staff on the ground. The help is being flown in from the US, the Manchester Evening News understands.
“The situation remains unchanged, more of the same,” said another staff member. “Probably some of the mistakes may not come to light until systems are working again.
"Clinical staff across the Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital, North Manchester General Hospital, and Rochdale Infirmary are unable to access X-rays or other scans without going to the radiology department. [It’s] similar for blood results.
“Ward patients have paper notes so actually advantageous in this situation as it’s one of the few things working. Outpatient appointments rely on previous clinic letters/referral letters so much harder to work effectively.
“Clinics are very hard to manage and keep to time. There’s no access to previous clinic letters on computers.
“We are unable to track patients across wards so are at risk of losing them. Patients missed means no clinical reviews, no tests ordered or reviewed, no progress towards discharge, potential missed deterioration, and so on.
The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) - which operates Fairfield General, the Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary - has declared critical incidents at all three of its hospitals but is still asking patients to come to hospital if they need to, and keep their appointments unless they are contacted to say otherwise.
Before its formal debut last year, the NCA was formerly known as Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which also ran North Manchester General. North Manchester’s current IT issues are understood to be due to its remaining connection to Pennine Acute systems.
This afternoon (Friday), the M.E.N. contacted the trust for an update on the efforts to fix the IT concerns, as well as its current expectations of when the issues will end.
The M.E.N. has also approached NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care for the more of the latest findings around the IT concerns. The government has stated that as the IT concerns ‘are not a national issue’, it would not get involved ‘unless it becomes a bigger problem’.
In the trust's latest update, issued on this afternoon, Dr Chris Brookes, Deputy CEO and Chief Medical Officer for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust, which operates Fairfield General, the Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary: “Our staff are working incredibly hard to resolve the IT issues affecting our hospitals and community services in Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and at North Manchester General, with many staff going above and beyond, and being incredibly patient, for which we are very grateful.
“We have made some good progress over the last 24 hours to fix some of the critical systems affected, and these systems are being released to colleagues when they have been tested and approved for use, mainly for viewing purposes only at this stage, which is having a positive impact on the situation.
“I would like to reiterate my apology to any patients and families affected and those who have had surgery cancelled.
“Our Emergency Departments remain particularly busy at the moment. We ask that you carefully consider if you really need A&E and your condition is an emergency and life threatening. Please contact 111 or seek advice from your local pharmacy or GP.”
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