Hospital apology for scan software malfunction.

[LadyofLaundry88]

17 weeks with DC3. Just had a letter come in with an apology from the Trust saying that their software malfunctioned on our 12wk ultrasound and our due date has now been changed by 3 days.

That in itself isn’t concerning, but it has me in a spiral of anxiety that if the measurement part of the software malfunctioned, then how can the NT have been accurate? They said it just affected the date part of the software but that’s not how software works…and we all know what NHS trusts are like for covering mistakes up. This trust in particular has already had an independent inquiry for excess maternal and baby death/injury.

What would you do in my boat?

Trust me it's waaaaay more than the NHS is worth to not look into a major error like that. If it was just the date software that was malfunctioning, that shouldn't have bearing on the NT measurements although I would absolutely feel the same what if anxiety as you're feeling now if it were me so please don't think I'm putting you down. They would offer you a 2nd scan if there were any doubt in their minds about the accuracy of that. Can you imagine the fall out if they had misdiagnosed that? It would be awful.

To put your mind at ease, can you ring the department and discuss with them? They will likely be able to put your mind at ease.

Thank you for your reply ♥️ good plan—there’s a number I can call and I might ask the midwives tomorrow.

I work in the NHS so sadly I know how deep these rabbit holes can go in terms of what patients are told when things go wrong. But you’re right, they’ve already admitted an error in the letter so would be completely liable if something was missed. This act of Duty of Candour might be the consequence of the recent inquiry recommendations to increase transparency.

Thank you for reply though—def helped! It’s my first post so didn’t know what to expect! 💕