A London hospital trust has failed to deliver 22,000 patient letters to GPs due to a ‘system breakdown’, in the latest of a series of incidents across England.
East London Foundation Trust issued a statement on Friday saying that the breakdown, which happened from 2 December last year to 30 January, resulted in letters ‘not reaching GPs to update them on the treatment and care of patients’.
The trust found that during that period correspondence routinely sent to GPs following a consultation failed to be delivered ‘in some cases’.
When asked by Pulse how many patients were affected, the trust said it estimated the incident delayed ‘approximately 22,000 letters’ but that it is ‘continuing to review the impact’.
It follows a similar incident in Essex last year, where a trust failed to send more than 50,000 patient letters to GPs due to an IT fault.
Similarly, a Newcastle trust failed to send 24,000 electronic patient documents to GPs, including discharge summaries and clinic letters, and in Nottingham 400,000 letters and documents intended for GPs were also delayed.
In its statement, the East London FT said ‘all letters have now been sent electronically’ to GP practices and apologised to the affected patients.
It said: ‘GP colleagues have been contacted to advise them of the issue. This has been recorded as a safety incident in the trust as the absence of timely information may have affected clinical decision-making or resulted in the need for the GP to contact services to clarify the management of a patient or service user. Or the individual may have had to call their team to seek advice.
‘We have received assurance from our system supplier that they have put mitigations in place to prevent this happening again. And that system alerts are in place in the event of any future issue.
‘Once again, we apologise to anyone who was affected by this incident. Please discuss any concerns you have about your care and treatment with the healthcare or social care professional responsible for your care.’
Following the incident in Essex, GPs had warned that clinical information was not passed and acted on as a result and the trust had promised ‘administrative and clinical support’ would be given to GPs in dealing with the backlog of information.
Mid and South Essex ICB said that it would take ‘over a year’ for the issue to be solved and that GPs would deal with the letters as they ‘have unique knowledge of individual patients which is not available to secondary care’ and ‘they would know whether the issue was still relevant’.
“GPs….have been contacted to advise them of the issue…”
Why?
We already knew letters were not being received. They did not have to tell us.
In most cases it was the GPs who alerted the Trusts to the problem.
There is a similar problem now in HDHB too – I wonder if the Hospitals have noticed yet the number of GPs who keep phoning up complaining of lack of prompt communication in line with the Communication Standards document?
So who is going to be demoted / sacked / fined / sued / prosecuted / charged / imprisoned over this *appalling* situation?
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/letter-contract-requirements.pdf
It is worth noting the changes to the 2016 Standard Hospital Contract, and their aspirations for 2017, as set out in the above letter/link. Most relevant bits are below:
2. Discharge summaries
Hospitals are required to send discharge summaries by direct electronic or email
transmission for inpatient, day case or A&E care within 24 hours, with local
standards being set for discharge summaries from other settings. Discharge
summaries from inpatient or day case care must also use the Academy of Medical
Colleges endorsed clinical headings, so GPs can find key information in the
summary more easily. Commissioners are also required to provide all reasonable
assistance to providers in implementing electronic submission.
3. Clinic letters
Hospitals to communicate clearly and promptly with GPs following outpatient clinic
attendance, where there is information which the GP needs quickly in order to
manage a patient’s care (certainly no later than 14 days after the appointment). For
2017/18, the intention is to strengthen this by requiring electronic transmission of
clinic letters within 24 hours.
If this was related to the performance of a GP Practice, any practice failing to hit these standards would be served with a breach notice (or a remedial notice). Because Hospitals are not managed to the same standards we are, there appears to be no consequences for the institution or any individuals.
Dear All,
This is a clear breach of DPA. It’s extent is sufficient for them to have reported themselves to the Information Commissioner. It is also sufficient for a significant fine. Have they and will they be?
Regards
Paul C