Health Secretary Blames IT for Deaths

[CoolCat]

So the NHS has failed to send out some breast cancer screening appointments.

The Health Secretary has announced in parliament that this is likely to have caused around 270 deaths.

He blames it on an IT fault...

And nobody asks the obvious questions, like who wrote the software? in-house or sub-contracted? who tested it? how long has it been like that?

Such an easy cop out to blame "the computers" there must be leadership incompetence behind this!

No doubt another "agile", outsourced to India, etc etc success story

[sal]

I haven't seen the details of this story, but how can "NHS has failed to send out some breast cancer screening appointments." lead do deaths?

Was it a failure to send automatic appointments to a subset of the population based on a certain criteria, so some of them missed the chance for early diagnosis, which lead to lower chances of cure? In that case why is the NHS blamed? Everyone who isn't living in a cave should have had plenty of information readily available on the matter and made his/hers own appointment, instead of relying on someone else to think for them.

If it was a failure that affected the treatment AFTER it was diagnosed, that's a different matter.

[northernladyuk]

I haven't seen the details of this story, but how can "NHS has failed to send out some breast cancer screening appointments." lead do deaths?

Was it a failure to send automatic appointments to a subset of the population based on a certain criteria, so some of them missed the chance for early diagnosis, which lead to lower chances of cure? In that case why is the NHS blamed? Everyone who isn't living in a cave should have had plenty of information readily available on the matter and made his/hers own appointment, instead of relying on someone else to think for them.

If it was a failure that affected the treatment AFTER it was diagnosed, that's a different matter.

Effective public health programmes like screening depend on inviting eligible participants at regular intervals.

[CoolCat]

I haven't seen the details of this story, but how can "NHS has failed to send out some breast cancer screening appointments." lead do deaths?

Was it a failure to send automatic appointments to a subset of the population based on a certain criteria, so some of them missed the chance for early diagnosis, which lead to lower chances of cure? In that case why is the NHS blamed? Everyone who isn't living in a cave should have had plenty of information readily available on the matter and made his/hers own appointment, instead of relying on someone else to think for them.

If it was a failure that affected the treatment AFTER it was diagnosed, that's a different matter.

it doesnt work like that with the NHS does it, you cannot "make your own appointment" normally, you are at the mercy of rationing and allocation unless you go private

[sal]

it doesnt work like that with the NHS does it, you cannot "make your own appointment" normally, you are at the mercy of rationing and allocation unless you go private

That's not what the NHS website says:

As the likelihood of getting breast cancer increases with age, all women aged 50 to 70 and registered with a GP are automatically invited for breast cancer screening every 3 years.

In the meantime, if you're worried about breast cancer symptoms, such as a lump or area of thickened tissue in a breast, or you notice that your breasts look or feel different from what's normal for you, don't wait to be offered screening – see your GP.

[SueEllen]

I haven't seen the details of this story, but how can "NHS has failed to send out some breast cancer screening appointments." lead do deaths?

Was it a failure to send automatic appointments to a subset of the population based on a certain criteria, so some of them missed the chance for early diagnosis, which lead to lower chances of cure? In that case why is the NHS blamed? Everyone who isn't living in a cave should have had plenty of information readily available on the matter and made his/hers own appointment, instead of relying on someone else to think for them.

The NHS definitely doesn't work like that in England at least.

If you are a participant of a screening program that takes place in a hospital, referred to a consultant or scheduled for an operation the NHS sends you out an appointment.

Often if you cancel it you are regarded as a no-show rather than a cancellation. In the case of consultants' referrals and operations you are referred back to your GP.

[vwdan]

it doesnt work like that with the NHS does it, you cannot "make your own appointment" normally, you are at the mercy of rationing and allocation unless you go private

You're rapidly moving into contention for the dullest, most predictably wrong person I've ever had the misfortune to share a space with.

[northernladyuk]

That's not what the NHS website says:

You've rather missed the point of screening. Screening is aimed at picking up early signs of cancer before symptoms appear (or before people are aware of symptoms). It is not a substitute for acting on symptoms, but supplementary.

It is rather odd to say that rationing is a factor. A screening programme will be designed around a combination of frequency of investigation and type of investigation that has a sound evidence base. In this case the NHS has failed. on the radio, an 'alogrithm' was blamed, but this should have been caught using standard patient safety tools.

[CoolCat]

You're rapidly moving into contention for the dullest, most predictably wrong person I've ever had the misfortune to share a space with.

The whole point of a screening programme is that it picks up people who can benefit from treatment, who would not be picked up otherwise (ie they have no obvious symptoms etc), and in this case for the number they would have expected to screen the projected benefit was circa 270 lives saved.

You most certainly could not (before this scandal) go to a GP, be symptom free, and ask for screening outside the allocated slots which were expected to be sent out.

[northernladuk]

They've got IT? I thought the NHS was third world level?