HOSPITAL bosses say they have ironed out problems with a computer system which had been leaving doctors and patients in the dark.

Glitches in the patient record system at Kidderminster Hospital and Redditch and Worcester meant dozens of patients missed appointments because no notification was sent.

Consultants often had empty clinics because patients did not know they were meant to attend.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust claims it has now dealt with many of the problems.

Information director Colin Bexley said: "These kind of changes are very difficult and we've had more problems than we expected.

"The kind of problems we were experiencing in the first eight weeks have now reduced significantly and, although the system isn't working to the level I'd like, it's still a perfectly acceptable system.

"The extra staff we've put in place are only now becoming effective and will improve things significantly."

The trust will install a single medical records centre, and will erase duplicate records from the system to avoid confusion and improve accuracy.

Problems arose after all three hospitals had to convert to the system used in Kidderminster.

They had previously used three different systems. Kidderminster was chosen because contracts for the other two were due to run out.