Dr Helen Hartley, Medicolegal Adviser at Medical Protection, said:
“Some GP surgeries may be experiencing temporary problems accessing information on their computers following Friday’s cyber-attack. Doctors will of course be keen to continue seeing their patients and providing the best possible care despite the disruption, and MPS members can be reassured that their indemnity arrangements are not affected by the current IT issues. Other hospital doctors, including junior doctors, should also be covered by the provisions of NHS indemnity.
“Doctors are advised to follow guidance from regulatory and professional bodies on the safeguards that can be put in place during a situation such as this. It is important that doctors seeing patients without the benefit of electronic medical records exercise heightened vigilance – taking time to establish a patient’s history and any allergies for example. Sufficiently detailed notes should also be made at consultations and a robust process should be established to ensure those notes are scanned into the correct record as soon as possible. Once electronic records become available, early consideration should be given to patients who have complex medical problems, those with outstanding investigation results, and patients who have seen a doctor recently where reviewing the notes may prompt a different response or treatment pathway. Any doctors who have concerns about their indemnity, or require medicolegal advice, can contact their medical defence organisation.”
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