SOUTHAMPTON hospital staff claim they are facing a technology crisis due to ageing computers and out-of-date hardware.

Bosses at Southampton General Hospital said there were more than 2,000 computers on site that are more than five years old while doctors are also struggling to find free machines when they need them.

Director of nursing Judy Gillow said: “I think we are getting to a situation where the computer hardware is so out of date it’s making us inefficient.

“The message coming up from junior doctors and consultants is that they do not have the hardware to do their jobs properly and it means their ward rounds are taking longer.

“It’s something we really need to consider for our spending plans next year as I think is becoming an increasing risk for us and our staff.”

Adrian Byrne, director of information management and technology, admitted much of the hospitals IT hardware is out of date while there are not enough computers to meet doctors’ needs.

He said: “Ideally we should refresh our technology every three years. But we have started the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ programme which is working well. People can bring in their own computers and log on to our network and there are no barriers to that.”

Mr Byrne said the trust was looking at investing in ‘thin client technology’ – stripped down software which can be run on computers old and new.

UHS currently spends around £5m per year on IT, including around £1.9m on specific projects, and Mr Byrne said they were in a similar position to other NHS foundation trusts.