A cancer patient who waited five months for an appointment arrived at the hospital to find it was cancelled after days of IT chaos. Duncan Berry said he was was told ‘it would not be safe for the consultant to see him’ as staff couldn't access his medical records.
The dad-of-two, whose mum died of cancer last June, has now been left with no idea how long it could be before he is seen again. He is wracked with 'anxiety on top of what he's already dealing with', fearing he could deteriorate as he is ‘added back onto the waiting list’ ‘with no contact advising how long this could be’.
NHS staff have said that thousands of patients are being affected by delays to care, caused by a major IT failure across four hospitals in Greater Manchester. The IT issues have caused chaos with electronic prescribing, viewing patients’ medical records, finding test results - as well forcing appointments and surgeries to be cancelled.
