NHS Computer system failures and the link to patient harm & death

Electronic Patient Records

As of November 2023, 90% of NHS trusts now have electronic patient records (‘EPR’) available, with a total of 189 trusts introducing the new paperless system, which is a government priority in England, investing £900m over the past 2 years to implement such systems. The latest deadline to implement EPR is set by the Department of Health and Social Care for 2026. EPR’s essentially allow everyone involved in a patient’s care to have access to their records and health information at the touch of a button; this includes hospitals, general practitioners and care homes.

Despite this, numerous IT failures have been linked to deaths and hundreds of instances of serious harm. A freedom of information request conducted by the BBC, revealed that around 200,000 medical letters had gone unsent due to widespread problems and glitches with NHS computer systems. In addition, further studies from the BBC in September 2023 revealed that more than 24,000 letters from Newcastle hospitals had not been sent from their EPR system and more than 400,000 letters had got lost in computer systems at hospitals in Nottingham.

Case Studies: Darnell Smith & Emily Harkleroad

Darnell Smith suffered from cerebral palsy. After being admitted to hospital, in Sheffield during November 2022, it was concluded that Darnell should have been having his vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure and temperature – checked by staff every hour for a minimum of 6 hours. Despite this, due to the hospital’s IT systems in place, Darnell’s personal care plan was not easily visible on the hospital’s computerised records; leaving staff unaware of Darnell’s particular needs, meaning his vital signs were not checked for over 12 hours. Unfortunately, this led to Darnell being admitted to a critical care unit where he eventually passed away from pneumonia.

Furthermore, 31-year-old Emily Harkleroad was diagnosed with a blood clot on her lung (otherwise known as a pulmonary embolism) in December 2022. Sadly, Emily died the following morning. An inquest heard that, a new computer system, installed months earlier, did not identify which patients were critically ill and needed priority to be seen by senior doctors; meaning Emily was delayed in receiving the blood-thinning treatment that she urgently needed.

Coroners have since highlighted the importance of hospital IT systems and the role they have ultimately played in the deaths of such patients.

It is not the failure of the systems, but the failure to train the staff to use them. Such heavy reliance on these systems also means that there is potential for catastrophic consequences if the system fails and there must be safeguards in place.

How can we help?

It’s clear from the hundreds of cases of harm, and in the awful cases like Emily and Darnell’s that there are serious issues around the country resulting in patients being injured, or in some cases dying, as a consequence of these electronic systems failing to work and operate properly.

Our clinical negligence team here at Forbes are highly experienced in dealing with NHS negligence claims and helping claimant’s access the compensation they deserve. If you have been let down by the NHS and their computer systems and such negligence has caused you further injury, suffering or exacerbated a pre-existing condition, you may be eligible for compensation. Please contact one of the team for some no-win, no fee, no obligation advice on the form below.