Glitch affects 22,000 hospital blood test results

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital boss Tracey Bleakley apologised for the issues with test results

A hospital has revealed that more than 22,000 blood test results were affected by problems with a new IT system.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) said some GPs were not able to save results into patient records in their systems – whilst others were not able to see them at all.

Executive managing director Tracey Bleakley admitted patients may find the news "unsettling", but said the problem had now been resolved.

She apologised and said pathology testing in the hospital's laboratories – which process 10,000 samples a day - had not been affected.

The issue came to light after NNUH upgraded its IT system on 29 July.

It said 19,200 results were sent to GP practices where doctors were able to view them, but could "not then file against the patient record on their systems".

A further 3,500 were not immediately visible to staff at GP surgeries, with the problem affecting results on the first two days of new system.

The hospital said the problem affected results on two days

Ms Bleakley said the hospital realised there was a problem "immediately" and an alternative system was put in place "as a backup to allow GPs to view results and continue patient care".

"We have now resolved both these issues with all results affected being resent successfully in a format which GPs were able to see and process."

Apologising for the disruption caused, Ms Bleakley said she recognised that "patients who have had routine tests since the new system went live may find this unsettling".

She added that the hospital and other NHS teams had "prioritised urgent and critical results and have cleared the backlog".