Appointments and operations cancelled at Stafford County Hospital due to IT meltdown

All outpatient appointments and elective surgery procedures have been cancelled at both County Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital due to the network issue, which has since been resolved this afternoon.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs both sites, shared an urgent message on its Facebook and Twitter pages to alert patients when the problem arose yesterday.

But staff were unable to call those affected directly, as IT problems mean they are unable to access patient records to find their contact details.

Appointments were cancelled yesterday and have also been cancelled today.

This afternoon, a spokesman confirmed that the network problem appeared to be sorted, saying: "We are pleased to confirm that the issues affecting our IT systems now appear to be resolved. While we are optimistic that a solution has been found there are further steps to be taken to ensure this solution is stable and continue to conduct safety checks.

"While these checks take place, all outpatient appointments remain cancelled today unless patients are contacted direct and routine elective surgery is being reviewed on our case by case basis.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused and thank patients for their understanding and co-operation."

Social media updates

A spokesman for UHNM said on Facebook yesterday: "Due to network issues at UHNM, certain IT services and telephone lines within the Trust are currently unavailable. This is having an impact on clinical services.

"All elective procedures and outpatient appointments for today have been cancelled.

"Patients, staff and partners will be kept fully informed throughout this disruption with regular updates via social media."

Another message posted on social media this morning confirmed that appointments had again been cancelled today.

The Trust apologised for the ongoing disruption and said patients scheduled for routine surgery would be reviewed on a "case by case basis".

A spokesman said earlier this morning: "We would like to apologise for the ongoing IT disruption, which is having an impact on our clinical services across Royal Stoke and County Hospital. Both hospitals remain open, however we have cancelled adult and paediatric outpatient appointments today.

"Where there are exceptions patients will be contacted directly by UHNM. Patients who are scheduled for routine elective surgery are being reviewed on a case by case basis. Patients will be contacted to rearrange their outpatient appointments as soon as possible.

"We are working with our partners to ensure patients are discharged home in a timely manner and that people are not sent to hospital unless absolutely necessary. Our network provider is working to identify and resolve the issues and staff are working hard to minimise impact."

A spokesman also told the Express & Star: "We're still trying to find the cause of the problem. We've had to cancel appointments as we have no access to patient notes.

"We also cannot call patients to tell them their appointment is cancelled as we cannot access their records.

"We really need to focus on the patients we have got at the moment in the hospital, who are sick."

Locals have reacted to the news, with many wondering what will happen after the system is back up and running and how soon they can get their appointment back.

Pennie Molloy said on Facebook: "This all goes to show that we shouldn't be so reliant on computers – what chaos when it goes wrong."

Damian Jenkins added: "The staff can not contact each other, nothing can be booked as systems are down, all work on same server.

"My wife has literally walked around tonight helping wards with administrative tasks. Without a means of communication the simplest of tasks cannot be performed. Even the surgeons, consultants, work on the same server."

And Sophie Talbot added: "Are elective surgeries currently going ahead tomorrow? I can’t imagine how stressed the poor staff are currently feeling. You guys are brilliant!"

Chrissy Mountford said: "I have got an appointment at the county hospital for an injection in my tendon – is this likely to be cancelled?"

Visit facebook.com/UHNM.NHS or twitter.com/UHNM_NHS for further updates.