Patient safety watchdog says NHS IT problems are harming patient

The patient safety watchdog has uncovered evidence of patient deaths due to IT system errors, prompting the government to take action to protect patients. The agency’s senior safety investigator highlighted safety issues associated with electronic patient record (EPR) systems, emphasizing the importance of focusing resources on improving patient safety. Interoperability problems and a lack of usability testing were identified as key issues. Additionally, a number of hospitals admitted to reviewing a large volume of documents from their EPR systems that were never sent, highlighting the widespread impact of IT problems on patient care.