Freedom of Information requests sent to acute hospital trusts in England by the BBC found system failures linked to three patient deaths and over 100 instances of serious harm.

NHS England said electronic patient records (EPR) systems had not been identified as being the cause of deaths by any NHS trusts, adding Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had reported errors in their FOI responses but should have reported zero deaths linked to their EPR system.

In addition, NHS England said Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust had identified two cases where the use of their EPR system was not the cause of any deaths but was identified as an additional learning opportunity.

Further findings from the FOI requests, included:          

•         89 trusts monitoring and logging instances when patients could be harmed as a result of problems with their EPR
•          almost half recording instances of potential patient harm linked to their system
•         nearly 60 trusts reporting IT problems that could affect patient care
•         more than 200,000 letters not sent across 21 trusts
•         126 instances of serious harm linked to IT issues, across 31 trusts.

 

Professor Erika Denton, national medical director for transformation at NHS England, said: ‘Electronic patient record systems have been shown to improve safety and care for patients, including helping clinicians detect those at risk from conditions such as sepsis and preventing medication errors.

‘The NHS has invested nearly £900m over the past two years to help local organisations introduce new and improved systems, so they are no longer relying on paper records or patchwork systems – which carry far greater risks to safety, care delays and patient privacy.

‘However, like any system it's essential that they are introduced and operated to high standards, and NHS England is working closely with trusts to review any concerns raised and provide additional support and guidance on the safe use of their systems where required.'

NHS England is investing £1.9bn to support hospital trusts to either adopt a new or improve their existing systems to ensure every hospital in England can benefit from digital transformation.

NHS England said its most digitised trusts were 10% more efficient than less digital providers.

NHS England said the most digitised trusts have also been shown to operate with approximately 10% improved efficiency compared with less digitally mature providers.