Charities have warned that the introduction of electronic medical records in hospitals across England poses “significant safety risks” to patients.
The Patient Safety Learning Centre says incidents linked to the new system are likely to be under-reported and should be brought to attention. It has called on the government to more effectively monitor adverse event reporting. One trust reported more than 900 incidents involving potential patient harm after implementing new software.
Helen Hughes, chief executive of the Patient Safety Learning Association, said that while electronic patient record systems have great potential to improve people’s care and treatment, there have been cases where the introduction of new systems has caused “direct and indirect harm to patients.” A report published in July by the charity warned of “significant risks to patient safety” associated with the introduction and use of electronic records.
Minister for Patient Safety, Gillian Mellon, wrote to charities last week that a national team had investigated all incidents related to electronic record systems which may have caused serious harm to patients. Ms Mellon said a review of clinical risk standards would take place in 2024-2025, along with “ongoing monitoring of safety risks associated with digital systems”.
Electronic patient records replace paper notes and aim to be a more reliable system that provides an integrated pathway that can be accessed from any screen in the hospital.
The NHS expects all health trusts to have electronic patient record systems in place by March 2026. Although the system has some advantages, it can raise safety issues as it does not interface with other information technology systems, and there is also the potential for staff error when using new and unfamiliar technology.
Mr Hughes said: “Electronic patient record systems are becoming increasingly commonplace across healthcare and are an essential part of the NHS’s digital transformation plans. It is vital that patient safety is placed at the core of implementation to ensure the benefits that patient record systems can bring and to ensure they do not unintentionally cause avoidable harm.”
“Patient Safety Learning believes there needs to be transparency in reporting unintentional harm.”
Two trusts, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, launched a new electronic patient record system called Surrey Safe Care in May 2022 to report a range of incidents involving patient harm. Royal Surrey reported 927 incidents, some of which involved patient harm, on the reporting system used to flag potential risks. Ashford and St Peter’s reported a total of 269 incidents, with eight incidents involving minor and three involving moderate harm, according to a report in the Health Service Journal.
The Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust said “more than 99%” of incidents reported during the rollout of the new patient record system “resulted in little or no harm to patients”.
The trust said: “The introduction of electronic patient records will be challenging for any employee and will take time to adopt. Patient safety is our number one priority so we encourage staff to proactively report any issues or opportunities for improvement through our incident reporting system.”
A spokesman for Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are continually reviewing the functionality of our electronic patient record to identify areas where we can improve. Our priority is to provide safe, high-quality care, so we strongly encourage staff to report any issues they encounter.”
The BBC reported in May that of 89 acute hospital trusts in England that monitored cases of potential patient harm in response to a Freedom of Information request, almost half had recorded cases of potential patient harm linked to their electronic patient record systems. The report found that there had been 126 cases of serious harm linked to IT issues and three deaths in two trusts linked to problems with electronic patient records.
An NHS spokesman said: “Electronic patient record systems are proven to improve patient safety and care, including detecting conditions such as sepsis and preventing medication errors, but it is vital that they are implemented and operated to high standards.”
“The NHS has established systems in place for reporting, investigating and learning from any incidents related to patient safety.”
