Patient data recording is not a routine task the Welsh Audit Office (WAO) has said in a critical report on hospitals in Wales.

The report, ‘Unscheduled care – patient handovers at hospital emergency departments’ found that collecting data on patients is not a regular occurrence in A&E departments and often the equipment used to collect data does not work properly.

The report detailed staff at the Welsh hospitals who are brink of apathy when it comes to dealing with data entry. Staff do not understand that when a screen saver is showing it does not mean that the data terminal is out of service. These terminals are often place in improper locations such as secluded areas or ones that are extremely busy. Many staff therefore do not visit the terminals on a regular basis to enter patient data.

Overall staff attitudes are lagging. They feel “over-monitored” by the entry process while many do not understand why the data must be entered in the first place.

Read full article: Public Service