24,000 hospital letters lost due to NHS computer glitch

[helvella]

I am posting this not to start discussion about the health service but in case we have members who are directly affected by these issues. This article should help to inform why information has not flowed. And prompt anyone to check whether they are affected,

For that reason, I shall close it to replying immediately.

24,000 hospital letters lost due to NHS computer glitch

Crucial tests and results from scans and blood tests may have been missed by patients after a NHS hospital trust failed to send out 24,000 letters from senior doctors due to a new computer system.

The BBC reported that when letters from staff at the Newcastle Hospitals Foundation NHS trust had to be signed off from a senior doctor they were placed into a folder few staff knew existed and remained unsent.

The majority of the letters explained what should happen when patients were discharged from hospital but a significant number were written by specialist clinics spelling out care that was needed for patients, the broadcaster reported. Some of the letters would have been sent to GPs.

Full article freely accessible here:

theguardian.com/society/202...

If you have been, or think you might be, affected by these issues, please follow through to the CQC as advised in the article.