Walsall Manor Hospital bosses apologise over teething problems
Hospital bosses are battling to solve problems with a new computer system months after it was brought in - and admit it is actually slowing staff down.
Walsall Manor chiefs have taken on six staff to cope with the issues and apologised for teething problems with the Lorenzo that was rolled out to make it easier to process patient information.
The new Lorenzo system at Walsall Manor Hospital aims to improve the way that patient records and appointment bookings are managed. But since it was introduced earlier this year the staff have complained that the new system was actually slowing them down in their work.
Trust finance and performance director Ian Baines told Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust board that the IT team was working hard to clear the back log of enquiries and appointment bookings.
He said six extra staff had been brought in and a dedicated call centre set up to provide support to staff in a bid to resolve the issues.
He said it will be necessary to continue staff training in the use of the system that was recently installed after the merger of the hospital and primary care services into a single healthcare trust two years ago.
"We need to work out how to stabilise it and how to go forward. We need to work out a process to get it more stable," Mr Baines told the board members.
An action plan is now in place to address problems with outpatient bookings, record keeping, and staffing levels at the call centre.
He said it had taken longer than expected for the system to settle down, and there had been difficulties persuading some staff to use it correctly.
He added despite the setbacks there were plans to introduce phase two in the new year.
The hospital's medical director Dr Amir Khan told the meeting: "I would like to apologise to the people who use our services for the difficulties that we have had with outpatient appointments. We are working on it, but it is taking time to crack."
When Lorenzo is fully operational it will eventually mean the removal of the need for staff to physically retrieve paper files from storage rooms.
The trust also has plans to replace its operating theatre IT system and to introduce an electronic system for chemotherapy services.
A report which emerged in July by Steve Darkes, director of informatics, said a number of issues had arisen as part of the implementation that the trust needed to get on top of to provide a stable base for the staff to adapt to the new system and for the trust to have timely and accurate information.
It said: "The 'business as usual' phase is proving difficult but with the continued efforts of those involved, progress is being made and some areas are returning to business as usual, but there remain many challenges.
"The focus has shifted over the last month to try and get a greater understanding of the issues and problems facing users and staff – ie to listen and respond.
"There is also an acknowledgement that in some departments Lorenzo has exposed poor practice or placed additional stress and hence there is a need to support and unblock this with additional senior management support and focus."