'Technical issue' prevents providers from receiving alerts on actionable imaging findings for 3 years

A hospital trust in England is informing organizations in the area of a technical glitch that may have prevented certain radiology reports from being appropriately flagged as urgent before being sent to referring providers. 

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s (HUTH) imaging department uses color coded flags to alert general practitioners that a patients’ imaging report contains "serious or unexpected” findings. The system was designed to improve patient care by prioritizing findings that may require further investigation. However, between 2022 and 2025, a “technical issue” resulted in many of these alerts not being sent alongside patients’ reports, according to local news outlets. 

It is currently unclear how many reports were affected by the issue. HUTH has assured patients that all radiology reports were routed to their referring providers, though some of them may not have contained the appropriate flag. 

“We were made aware that a technical issue in our systems resulted in secondary imaging alert emails not being sent to GPs between July 2022 and January 2025,” a HUTH spokesperson said. “However, throughout this time, we can provide assurance that all of the reports were sent correctly to GP practices. We are working collectively with our GP colleagues to ensure all reports have been actioned appropriately.” 

The Humberside Group of Local Medical Committees (LMC), which represents NHS general practitioners and practice teams across Hull, East Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and Northeast Lincolnshire, is collaborating with practices to identify any affected reports and ensure those with actionable findings are directed to the appropriate providers.

“Recognizing this is an issue that has arisen in their systems, the trust is reviewing the notes and GP connect records alongside their own IT system to go through all affected patients,” the LMC said in a message to local practices. “In the vast majority of cases, they have been able to see that any required follow up has been actioned and nothing further is required.” 

The LMC says it is working to compile a list of affected reports and plans to help initiate contact with patients and GPs to prioritize alerts that require further action from providers. The organization reassured practiced that they “will continue to work with the trust on your behalf to ensure this process is as simple as possible. Numbers so far are less than 12 patients in the largest practices in the area.”