CSC Lorenzo system partly to blame for Sheffield NHS Trust £12m deficit

Sheffield NHS Trust beset by "data issues" attributed to Lorenzo

CSC's electronic patient record system Lorenzo is partly to blame for a £12m shortfall at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, according to an integrated performance report by the trust's board of directors published last month.

The Trust went live with Lorenzo in September last year but, according to the report, it is one of the main reasons that Sheffield Teaching Hospitals had underperformed.

"The under-performance remains largely in respect of elective activity, out-patients, critical care and a larger than expected deduction for emergency re-admissions within 30 days," the report claims.

"There are still data issues following the implementation of the new Lorenzo PAS [patient administration system] towards the end of September, which are creating challenges in reporting complete and accurate income figures."

But the bigger issue, according to the report, is the operational impact of the new system on booking and scheduling processes - particularly in out-patient services.

Since the implementation of Lorenzo, the trust has seen a rise in did not attend (DNA) rates for outpatient appointments, with an analysis of the issues has shown that for some patients the DNA status was recorded incorrectly.

The new system has also led to delays in administrative processes affecting pathway management, while administration tasks around outpatient booking have been more time-consuming too. It said that Lorenzo experts were visiting outpatient areas to assess the issues and recommend changes to processes where appropriate.

The report said that the position the trust is in after nine months of the financial year "remains of concern". It added that action was being pursued to improve the delivery of activity, efficiency and financial plans and to mitigate risks and to maximise contingencies.

"Resolving the issues following the Lorenzo implementation and getting activity back to normal levels is critical," it said.