BOSSES at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust (NCA) which runs The Royal Oldham Hospital have given an update on the critical incident declared after ‘significant’ IT issues triggered delays to patient care.

In a statement released today, May 26, Dr Chris Brookes, deputy chief executive and chief medical officer for the NCA, said the ‘critical incident status’ remains but ‘positive progress’ in diagnosing and resolving the IT problems has been made overnight.

The trust has been tackling the problems since Wednesday (May 18) at Royal Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, and North Manchester General Hospital which have caused disruption and instability issues.

Dr Brookes today warned that the IT issues are having an ‘operational impact’ on services meaning services are ‘slower and delayed’.

Emergency departments across all four hospitals remain ‘particularly busy’ with patients urged to only attend A&E if their condition is an emergency and life-threatening.

The hospital boss added that any patients who have had their surgery cancelled as a result of the issues will have their appointment ‘rebooked as soon as possible’ and apologised to anyone affected.

He said: “I’d like to apologise to anyone affected, and their families, for the inconvenience, especially anyone who has had surgery cancelled at short notice. Patients who have a hospital appointment whether for planned surgery or as an outpatient should continue to attend unless they are contacted directly by the trust and told otherwise.

“Our emergency departments remain particularly busy at the moment. We ask that you carefully consider if you really need A&E, and your condition is an emergency and life-threatening. Please contact 111 or seek advice from your local pharmacy or GP.”

For minor illnesses and ailments, patients can check which service is right for them by calling NHS 111 or going online to the NHS 111 website.

The NHS 111 telephone advice service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls to the service are free from landlines and mobile phones.