‘Thank you for highlighting this absolute fiasco’

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to this week’s Monday briefing.

Sometimes a piece we write really strikes a nerve with people. Our story about Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ new patient record system was one. After we published it on Friday, we were inundated with responses from staff and patients wanting to tell us about their experiences of the new system. They paint a picture of a hospital under severe stress and staff with little confidence in the system. That’s our big story today.

As well as that, we have the start of the Steel City Beer & Cider festival, news of progress on extensions to Supertram, and a strangely-shaped home in Heeley.

In case you missed it

For our weekend read, Daniel Dylan Wray spoke to Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, two intrepid Sheffield-based investigative journalists who have made a name for themselves by taking on organised environment crime all over the world. Judging by the positive comments, lots of you really enjoyed the piece. Simon Rowlands said: “What a fascinating and uplifting story. Journalism comes out of this well in so many different ways. Keep up the good work.”

And earlier in the week, our regular contributor David Bocking visited Broomhall to find out why many people think it is a model for how we think about play and active travel. In the 70s the area was a rat-run infested red light district, but thanks to changes brought about in the past 50 years it is now one of the best places in the city for children to play in the street. 

The big picture: Golden hour 🌅

Some of the sunsets in Sheffield recently have been stunning. This one of the view down Wellington Street from Heart of the City was captured by Instagram user Quosh on Saturday.

The big story: ‘Thank you for highlighting this absolute fiasco’

Top line: On Friday, The Tribune published a major investigation into Sheffield Teaching Hospital’s new electronic patient management system or EPR, which was rolled out in July. Our reporting revealed serious and continuing problems with the system, including patients missing appointments and staff struggling to cope with the added workload. Since we published the piece, we have been inundated with responses from patients and staff.

Missed appointments: A number of patients confirmed that they had missed appointments as a result of the new system. One wrote: “My son had a temporary cast put on at A&E shortly after they’d introduced the new IT system. He was waiting for a call or letter asking him to go in for a permanent one which never came. When he rang up nearly three weeks later with the cast unraveled, there was no record of him on the system.” Another said: “My wife had cataract surgery and suffered the quite common growth of tissue under the lens obscuring her vision. About six weeks ago our optometrist referred her to NGH, not a word.”

Delayed discharges: And the system is also causing problems in discharging patients as well. One reader told us: “My mother in law was ready to be discharged but the nurses' station PCs couldn't connect to any printer in the entire building and they weren't allowed to discharge her without giving us a physical copy of her discharge letter. It was chaos.”

Staff stress: Several patients told us they could see the effect the changeover was having on staff. One said: "The nurses couldn't print off my wristband neither could they print off any of my discharge information at the end of the day. They were all really stressed with it.” Another noted: "[It] took my brilliant and very patient consultant six minutes to navigate the system to give me a prescription. He asked me to time him as he clicked away at endless screens. What a waste of his time and skill."

‘No confidence’: That view was backed up by a hospital administrator who contacted us to thank us for highlighting the “absolute fiasco”. The last three months had been “horrendous”, they said, adding many staff members had been hoping the media would report on it. “Lots of colleagues have likened it to the Post Office Horizon scandal,” they added. “Every day is a challenge just to get through the day and do the most basic tasks. We have no confidence in it whatsoever. Relationships between colleagues are at breaking point due to the immense strain. Staff are going off sick due to work related stress. These are all very experienced, intelligent, compassionate, hard working and competent staff who have been broken.”

Trust response: When we asked Sheffield Teaching Hospitals for a response, CEO Kirsten Major told us: “I want to stress that whilst a change of this magnitude and scale is bound to have some initial issues to resolve, patients on our wards and those needing emergency care have continued to receive the care they required. Patients on our waiting lists can also be reassured that they are still on our list because prior to the change we saved a copy of the information in the old computer system which means we have not lost that data and can still cross check our records if needed in the future. We also still have the previous paper patient records available to view. We have seen some disruption to our outpatient clinic appointments but booking work has been continuing at pace to resolve this and the majority of services are booking appointments as expected. There is no need for patients to contact us unless their circumstances have changed and need to notify us of this.”

Our take: Of course, whenever a change of this scale is rolled out, there are always going to be problems. However, from our reporting and the responses we have received since, it's clear these problems are serious, widespread — and ongoing. If you’d like to share your experiences of the new system with us, please email us. Any information we receive will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Your Tribune briefing 🗞️

🚊 The Star report that progress has been made towards bringing Supertram services to three new destinations. Tom Finnegan-Smith, director of transport strategy and policy for South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, said that his team has done initial study work on expanding the network to Stocksbridge and North East Derbyshire using existing railway lines for tram-train services. He added that they had also undertaken some early-stage feasibility work on a second city centre route which could connect to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.

🍻 Forty two percent of specialised alcohol outlets in Sheffield are independently owned or operated, a new report commissioned by the University of Sheffield has found. The results of the year-long study, during which 464 alcohol retailers and outlets were surveyed, suggest the high number of independents is a reflection of the city’s history of distinct, interconnected neighbourhoods. The report also contains recommendations including one that breweries, pubs and shops should use the word “independent” to describe themselves rather than “craft”, which is increasingly being co-opted by large multinational corporations.

🍬 You may have seen this story already but we couldn’t resist including it. Barnsley HGV driver Nathan Rimmington was hospitalised after eating his way through a 3kg bag of cola bottles he bought online after getting a “hankering” for the sweets. However, after the three day binge left him so "bunged up" he could not walk or get out of bed, his doctor ordered him to go to hospital where he was eventually diagnosed with diverticulitis, an inflammation of his digestive system caused by eating too much gelatin. “It's not the cleverest thing I have ever done in my life — I can't even look at a cola bottle now,” said an embarrassed Rimmington.

🍿 And, just in case you haven’t had your fill of the brilliant Tales from a Hard City, our regular contributor Daniel Dylan Wray has another piece on the classic 1995 Sheffield documentary in The Quietus. In his essay, Wray argues the film acts as a "companion and contrast piece" to Pulp’s hit song Common People, which was released in the same year.

The weekly Whitworth ✍️

Cartoonist James Whitworth with his take on the problems with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ new IT system.

Home of the week 🏡

This two bedroomed detached bungalow in Heeley is certainly unique. But while “The Bakehouse” might be strangely shaped, the new build has been finished to the highest of standards and also comes with generous outside space. It is on the market for £220,000.

Things to do 📆

Books 📚 Sheffield’s annual Off the Shelf festival of words continued this week at venues across the city. Highlights this week include Sheffield poet Helen Mort talking about Jane Austen to mark the writer’s 250th birthday on Tuesday, an evening with Yorkshire poet Simon Armitage and his band LYR on Wednesday, and Jamie Taylor talking about his book Studio Electrophonique on Friday. For a full list of everything taking place, see the website.

Art 🖼️ On now at Cupola Gallery in Hillsborough is a new exhibition of paintings by Sheffield artist Andy Cropper. For the last 16 years, Andy Cropper has been mapping Sheffield in paint, from the charged stillness of twilight to the deep, cinematic tones of the night. Best known for his atmospheric night‑time cityscapes, this exhibition also unveils earlier works rarely or never shown before. The exhibition is on until Saturday, 5 November.

Beer 🍻 Wednesday sees the start of one of the biggest events in Sheffield's calendar, the annual Steel City Beer & Cider Festival. Organised by the Sheffield branch of CAMRA, Kelham Island Museum will be full of drinks, including beer, cider and perry, as well as live music, street food, pub games and talks. The festival opens at 5pm on Wednesday and closes at 9pm on Saturday. For a full list of everything taking place, download the brochure.

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