Trust IT issue means GPs may be unaware of newly pregnant patients, LMC warns
Exclusive GP practices in one area may not be aware of newly pregnant patients due to issues caused by a trust’s IT upgrade, the local LMC has warned.
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) changed its maternity electronic patient record (EPR) in October last year, but the functionality to share maternity letters between this EPR and GP practice systems (EMIS and SystmOne) was not enabled at the time of the switch.
This has created a ‘gap in communication’ between midwifery and practices ‘leading to patient safety concerns’, according to Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) LMC.
LLR LMC chief executive Dr Grant Ingrams told Pulse ongoing issues remain for all maternity-related communication, meaning practices may not have been made aware of newly pregnant patients.
He said: ‘When we went live (with the new EPR), that ability to send communications didn’t go live at the same time, so we’ve had a gap where practices are not being informed.
‘As patients often have gone directly to midwives rather than via the practice, that means that the practice doesn’t know that patient is pregnant.
‘The practice may be aware of something related to the patient which could be a safeguarding issue if we knew they were pregnant, and the practice would want to know about it.’
On hospital IT software rollouts, Dr Ingrams said trusts ‘should be thinking about the consequences’ of introducing new systems because ‘the people who always pick it up whenever something like this happens is general practice’.
UHL did not deny issues were ongoing but said that on sending GP birth summaries specifically, a solution was reached two days after the go live date in October.
Jonathan Cusack, clinical director for Women’s and Children’s Services at UHL, told Pulse: ‘In October 2025, the trust launched a new app called Badger Notes to give women a week‑by‑week view of their pregnancy, appointment details, maternity records, information leaflets, and a way to submit questions or birth‑plan preferences directly to midwives and doctors.
‘As planned, GP birth summaries have continued to be printed and posted to ensure the continuity and safety of care. The only change was during two days following go live, with the small backlog immediately cleared.
‘Timely communication with GPs is of the utmost importance to the trust and we continue to work with the ICB and LMC to further strengthen processes.
‘Badger Notes offers the potential for UHL to digitise the transfer of patient letters to GP practices. Teams at the trust have accelerated this work as part of phase two of the rollout, and the digital transfer system is now expected to go live in February 2026 – four months ahead of schedule.
‘We continue to work in partnership with the ICB and LMC to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.’
In December, Pulse revealed delays in sending discharge summaries from a hospital trust to GP practices had led to cancer diagnoses not being recorded and to other serious patient safety issues.
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