The Pinnacle IT programme, owned by healthcare software provider Emis, crashed yesterday causing panic as doctors scrambled to save the information. A message appeared on computer screens in hubs across the country telling healthcare workers there was an “infrastructure issue”.
Other issues highlighted by vaccine hubs included lack of training in the Pinnacle system.
Some surgeries reported they have not yet received the fridges to preserve the jab.
Dr Helen Salisbury, a GP in Oxford, said vaccinations at her practice had to be delayed until Friday.
She said: “However, we haven’t been shown how to use Pinnacle and a lot of colleagues have said the system has already crashed.
“We don’t have the bar scanners we need to enter who’s had the first dose on the system either.
“We also don’t have the fridges to keep the vaccine in that we were told we’d be getting.
“We were also told the vaccine would last for five days outside of the ultra-low temperature, and now we’re told it lasts three-and-a-half days.
“To be honest, nothing seems ready and we’re seriously talking about taking the information with pen and paper.”
A healthcare professional in West Yorkshire labelled the vaccination efforts a “complete joke” due to increasing complications in the programme.
He said: “We haven’t been given a reason for the delays, but told to say it is due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’”
Speaking to iNews, a doctor at Oxford University Hospital denounced that “hundreds of people” who were not on the priority list have managed to secure an appointment.
They added: “We’re hearing hundreds of people who are not on the priority list have been able to book appointments. We’re not sure if anyone has got the first dose who should not have, but nothing would surprise me.
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“The whole vaccine system is so fragile and very little seems to go as it should.”
David Walliker, chief digital and partnership officer at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust admitted the link to book vaccinations had been leaked.
But he said the issue had been addressed and action had been taken.
He said: “We became aware over the weekend that a link to our booking system was being circulated when it should not have been, and we have since removed the links.
