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 hospital trust marshalling the IT fixes - the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) - says it has made ‘some positive progress’ diagnosing and resolving the problems affecting the Royal Oldham, Fairfield General , Rochdale Infirmary , and North Manchester General . However, staff say that while some functions have been restored, there are still significant problems with all sorts of systems - including those used to look up test results, electronically prescribe medications and track patients as they move through the hospitals.
The IT issues have caused problems for nine days, having first started on May 18. NHS staff have said ‘thousands’ of patients are being affected by delays to care, including cancellations of appointments and surgeries.
Medics from across the hospitals affected, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have told the Manchester Evening News that the delays are continuing.
One senior hospital source said that while some functionality has been restored, significant work must be done before the IT programmes can resume fully, adding that they ‘can’t see the problem being sorted out this week’. The IT outages have been 'significant and prolonged', causing 'significant disruption', added the source.
Have you been affected by the IT chaos? Call the M.E.N. newsdesk on 0161 211 2920 or email helena.vesty@reachplc.com
Continuity plans 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'.
But in the absence of digital records, 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.
The M.E.N. has approached the NCA, NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care for the more of the latest findings around the IT concerns, and an update on the fixes as of today, May 27.
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’. Another NHS source spoken to says ‘experts are being brought in from abroad’ to help.
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.”
To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here .
