Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has reported that a failure in its computerised patient record system contributed to a £10m loss, as part of a £14m increase in debt. The trust's debt rose from £18m to £32m in the financial year ending April 2018, following a forecast deficit of £14.6m.
Chief executive Deborah Lee told a Gloucestershire County Council health and care scrutiny committee that the TrakCare system, introduced in 2016 and provided by InterSystems, failed to record, capture, and account for all activity. This prevented the trust from billing the NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for work, including operations.
Ms Lee expressed disappointment over the factors leading to the financial shortfall but assured that patient care quality was not affected. The trust, which runs Cheltenham General Hospital, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, and Stroud Maternity Unit, has been under special financial measures since 2016.
Liberal Democrat councillor Iain Dobie described the system failure as 'clearly of public concern' and called for the NHS to seek a refund from the supplier and ensure lessons are learned. InterSystems declined to comment on the matter.
