Nigel Masters is a retired GP. He summarises incoming medical notes.
The ‘White screen of death’ was a well-known computer issue in early Microsoft Windows Computers and was caused by either a hardware or software issue. As one might expect it was an annoying occurrence but fortunately seen most in home personal computers. Recently I had a déjà vu experience as I looked onto the white screen of a newly registered patient and found empty allergy fields, problem lists, consultations and immunisation screens. As a summariser of incoming records working in the engine room of the primary care ship I was struck by the similarity of feelings when seeing this screen and the experience of that white screen of death. Frustration that I would be unable to resolve the problem without expert help and usually would end up trying a workaround to keep things on course.
I put a note in the consultation record that the notes have been reconstructed as GP2GP electronic transfer of the notes has failed.
I have paper printouts of the electronic record and an old Lloyd George envelope filled with blue, white and brown scribbled cards. I have a scanned copy of the welcome pack information provided by the patient on joining the practice. With this to hand I laboriously re-enter problem codes, allergic information and immunisations.
I am not aware of any auditing to track such issues nor a responsible named individual to contact to navigate a solution.
I put a note in the consultation record that the notes have been reconstructed as GP2GP electronic transfer of the notes has failed. I believe such notes transfer failure is less common these days but just one is one too many. I am not aware of any auditing to track such issues nor a responsible named individual to contact to navigate a solution. I give up and go onto the next set of incoming notes and cross my fingers that all will be well.
Deputy Editor’s challenge: if any readers are familiar with efforts to tackle this problem, do comment below!
Featured photo by Quaritsch Photography on Unsplash
That’s frustrating when characterconverter the white screen comes back after seeming to be fixed. I’d check whether anything changed recently, like an update, plugin, or browser setting, as that can help pinpoint the cause.