A hospital faced disruption after issues with its IT system for nearly a week.
Staff first began experiencing computer problems in parts of Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham last Friday (August 15).
The system was restored yesterday morning (August 21), and the NHS Foundation Trust has apologised for any “disruption or delay” patients faced.
Charmaine Linnell says she became aware of the issue when her 88-year-old mother was blue-lighted to the hospital and taken to the resuscitation area last Friday.
The 62-year-old Gillingham resident said: “They [staff] were saying the computer systems kept crashing, and they couldn’t update me on what medication they’re giving her or what the processes were.
“I thought this is a big hospital – you can’t be relying on a computer in the emergency resuscitation department.
“I don’t think all of them were affected, but it just concerned me. People are obviously needing emergency care, and the computers are not working efficiently.
“My mum’s got mixed dementia, so she needs someone with her because she doesn’t understand what’s going on.
“One [member] asked if she had allergies, and we told them, but then when she got moved to another section, they were asking the same questions.”
Charmaine raised her worries with staff members at the time, but did not submit a formal complaint via the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
She added: “The staff were brilliant, but they were obviously very frustrated with the system.
“When my mum was admitted to a ward, again, the same things were happening. They couldn’t access it to give me any information.”
On Wednesday (August 20), she returned to the hospital as her mother, Sheila, was being discharged.
The system issues were still ongoing at that time.
Charmaine said: “Even just getting her to come home for her was a bit of a problem – they were under a lot of pressure.”
Medway NHS Foundation Trust confirmed the issues were not a result of a cyber-attack.
Chief Operating Officer Nick Sinclair said: “We apologise for any disruption or delay following a temporary disruption to some of our IT networks in parts of the hospital.
“Thanks to the hard work of our IT Team, access to our systems has now been restored.
“We have tried and tested business continuity procedures to deal with such disruptions to ensure we can still treat and discharge patients.”
