IT problems at one of UK's most respected hospital
trusts has led to a backlog of at least 14,000 London patients on a
waiting list for treatment.
The backlog affects patients at St Bartholomew's (Barts)
Hospital and The London NHS Trust, which serves two million people
in east London, the City, and Canary Wharf.
Barts, which describes itself as world renowned, has 22,000
electronic patient records on its waiting list of people who should
be treated
within the national target of 18 weeks. Many are duplicates,
but at least 14,000 are considered by trust staff to be the records
of individual patients.
The trust says dealing with the backlog may mean some patients
end up
waiting more than 26 weeks for an operation, in breach of
government targets.
Doctors say there are inaccuracies in data, the system can be
slow and staff do not always understand the work-arounds, and the
way the system works in combination with the trust's practices.
They add that, unless they fully understand the system's
characteristics, they may find the data hasn't gone to the right
place for the patient to be treated.
Barts and The London NHS Trust told Computer Weekly: "It has
been a frustration for everyone at Barts and The London NHS Trust
that our desire to meet the 18-week national target has been
compromised by previous weaknesses in our information management
and administration systems. The Trust has no evidence, however,
that any patient has come to clinical harm because of the
backlog."
Since
installing the Cerner Millennium Care Records Service in 2008,
as part of the NHS's National Programme for IT (NPfIT), staff and
doctors at Barts and The London NHS Trust have lost track of
thousands of patients on its waiting lists.
Some in the NHS are surprised the IT problems at Barts have
continued for nearly 18 months. In June 2008, Barts said: "the
outstanding issues resulting from the implementation of Care
Records Service are in the process of being resolved".
Barts' 18-week waiting list backlog reached 26,640 in August.
This had been cut to 22,000 patient cases by the end of last week.
From these 22,000 staff and doctors are unable yet to tell which
patients have had treatment within the government's 18-week
standard.
The main health authority in the capital, NHS London, said in a
statement to Computer Weekly: "Barts and the London are working to
address a potential backlog of around 23,000 patient records to
determine those who have been treated within 18 weeks and those who
have breached this standard."
The strategic health authority is meeting monthly with the Trust
and its commissioning PCT to ensure that this backlog is
addressed."
Computer Weekly has also learned that Mike O'Brien, the health
minister responsible for the NPfIT and the 18-week standard, is
receiving fortnightly reports on the efforts at Barts and The
London to reduce the backlog.
The problems at Barts - and at other London hospitals which run
the Cerner Millennium Care Records Service - could undermine a
decision to resume a roll-out of the NPfIT system after a halt last
October. The next hospital in line for the system is Kingston
Hospital NHS Trust.
The Department of Health's website says nobody should wait more
than 18 weeks for the start of their treatment, from the time they
are referred by a GP, unless they choose to wait longer or it is
clinically appropriate to wait longer.
IT
Projects Blog >>