Are poor NHS systems endangering patients?

Are poor NHS systems endangering patients?

Poor and outdated NHS systems may be endangering patients as calls for the public health service to catch-up to the 21^st century grow.

There have been a few NHS systems issues recently that have caused havoc. Last year’s WannaCry data breach caused huge problems for the NHS and for patients. Operations were cancelled, and services were closed. It all happened because the ransomware used in the attack targeted older systems. Older systems are often not as secure and no longer have patches available.

That’s just one example of poor NHS systems endangering patient safety. There are more.

Recent NHS systems issues should be catalyst for change

The recent NHS systems issues should act as a catalyst for change to avoid patients coming to harm. As well as last year’ WannaCry incident, there have been other incidents that have caused harm too.

The NHS Digital data glitch led to the sharing of confidential records against patient’s wishes. This was a clear and avoidable breach of data protection legislation.

The NHS cervical screen error led to test results not getting to the patients, an affecting some 40,000 people.

The NHS breast cancer screening scandal stemmed from letters not being sent to patients to come for screening because of an IT glitch. That incident affected almost half a million patients.

They’re just three recent incidents, and the problems that can be caused are clear to see. These kinds of NHS systems failures that can be caused by old and outdated infrastructure is endangering patient safety. They can ultimately cost people their lives.

What can you do as a victim of an NHS systems failure?

Victims of NHS systems failures can claim for compensation. If it’s a data incident then you can claim for data breach compensation. If you’re injured or suffer as a result of a systems error, it’s a personal injury claim. Specifically, the latter can be a medical negligence claim, which is an area of specialism for us.

For free, no-obligation advice, please contact the team today.

If we think we can help you, we may be able to offer you a No Win, No Fee arrangement.