Insufficient EPR training contributes to risk of patient harm
- 1 December 2025
- The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) conducted a thematic review into patient safety issues associated with EPRs
- It found that EPR systems “could contribute to the risks of patient care being missed, delayed or incorrect”
- EPR training is often not sufficient to equip staff with the knowledge needed to use systems effectively
Electronic patient record (EPR) training is often not sufficient to equip staff with the knowledge needed to use systems effectively, according to a report.
A thematic review into patient safety issues associated with EPR systems, published by the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) on 27 November 2025, found that EPR systems could contribute to the risks of patient care being “missed, delayed or incorrect”.
The review, which examined 112 of the HSSIB’s investigations from 2018 to the end of May 2025, found that insufficient staff training in how to use EPR systems contributed to resulting harm “on patient safety, organisational efficiencies and wider national efforts to digitise healthcare”.
Nick Woodier, senior safety investigator at HSSIB, told Digital Health News: “We have heard through our investigations that limited training of staff in how to use EPR systems in the clinical environment has not always prepared them to use these systems safely.
“For example, we have heard assumptions that an EPR system may have functionality built in to prevent patient safety incidents – such as to stop the clinician prescribing the wrong dose of medicine – but in reality this may not always be present or configured appropriately.”
HSSIB found that staff training “did not always reflect how a system would be used in the ‘real world’, nor what to do if the EPR system failed”.
Trusts frequently reported that training “was not taught by people with experience of using the system in clinical practice” and there was “limited refresher training following introduction of new safety-critical functionality or updates to business continuity processes”.
“The safety of patients was put at risk by EPR systems where they created conditions within which a patient did not receive care, their care was delayed, or they received incorrect care including from being misidentified,” the report said.
Commenting, Ben Jeeves, chair of the Digital Health Networks Clinical Safety Officer Council, said: “Training, because of the fundamental human interface with technology, is arguably one of the most important mitigations to ensure is put in place and should be identified during a robust clinical safety process.
