NHS Cornwall hospitals under pressure after IT disruption

Hospitals in Cornwall remain under pressure after an IT outage on Tuesday, the NHS said.

NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly said most of the issues had now been resolved and all services had resumed.

However, a spokesman said people should avoid using the emergency department or calling ambulances “unless it is a life or limb-threatening situation”.

Leanne Clark, who lives on the Roseland peninsula, was with her mother at Falmouth’s eye clinic when the IT problems started and said the staff were “fantastic”.

Mrs Clark’s mother had had a cataract test and was waiting to see the consultant for the results when IT systems crashed.

“The staff were fantastic,” she said.

“They kept checking in on us and kept sharing information about issues the whole time, so we felt like we knew what was going on.

“I feel very strongly that the NHS is being criticized so much, but in fact the staff could not have done more yesterday.”

The NHS thanked patients for their “understanding, support and patience” after the “important IT issue”.

“Some areas are still under pressure as a result of the disruption, this includes our emergency department and ambulance handovers,” it said.

“Unless it’s a life or limb-threatening emergency, we ask people to use other services so we can help those who need it most.”

Anyone requiring care was asked to consider using their GP, pharmacist, NHS 111 and minor injury units.

The NHS said it would contact people who had their appointments postponed on Tuesday to book a new date.