THE CONSERVATIVE candidate at the last General Election has issued a statement following the news that thousands of appointments at Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) have been cancelled as they attempt to embed a new electronic patient record system (Alex Health)

Hannah Ellis said: ‘”My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by the cancellations. We all want to see improvements in technology within the NHS, but only if it is managed properly to deliver a better and more accessible service for patients. 

The NHS exists to serve the people, not the other way round. In too many cases, this is not happening as it should be. That’s not fair on patients and it’s not fair on the doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants and support staff who took their jobs because they wanted to help people. 

For too long, politicians of all colours have failed to get to grips with the systematic and cultural failings within the NHS. Pumping endless amounts of more money into a broken system – as Labour are doing now without requiring the necessary improvements to outcomes for patients – is not the answer. 

Princess Alexandra Hospital should clearly set out what controls and oversight they had over the planning and implementation of their new system and explain how this situation was able to happen. 

An unconscionable numbers of patients have been affected already and this must be putting an enormous amount of pressure on hospital staff who will be trying to catch up without causing further delays to those patients still on the waiting list.

“The hospital’s priority must be rebooking these cancelled appointments as soon as possible while supporting the staff who will have been dealing with the repercussions of this on the frontline.”