Separate to our FOI investigation, coroners have highlighted the role that hospital IT systems have played in the deaths of some patients. Twenty-two-year-old Darnell Smith’s case is one example.
“He was our rock, you know. He had a big personality. Words can’t really explain how much he was to us…” says Erroll Smith of his son, Darnell.
Darnell had sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy and was non-verbal. He was admitted to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, in Sheffield, with a cough and cold-like symptoms and a reduced appetite, in November 2022.
He should have had his vital signs – heart rate, blood pressure and temperature – checked by staff every hour for a minimum of six hours – but there were no checks for more than 12.
Staff were not aware of Darnell’s particular needs because his personal care plan was not easily visible in the hospital’s computerised records, a coroner later concluded.
His father told BBC News: “For me, the IT system should be set up in a way where you have to see it… you know – it just doesn’t allow you to move any further until you’ve read what you’re supposed to read.”
Several hours after his care plan came to light, Darnell was admitted to critical care and was put on a ventilator the next morning. He died from pneumonia two weeks later.
Following an inquest, the coroner warned of a “real risk of further deaths” if doctors couldn’t access important information about patients’ care needs.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust has apologised for the care Darnell received. They say they have already made changes to limit the chances of this happening again and a new IT system is being introduced this year.
In September, we reported that more than 24,000 letters from Newcastle hospitals had not been sent from their EPR system and more than 400,000 letters had got lost in computer systems at hospitals in Nottingham.
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