Computer malfunction causes statin alert

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched an investigation after a computer glitch may have caused a disruption to patients’ statin prescriptions.

Around a third of GP surgeries have been instructed to contact patients to check they have not been incorrectly prescribed or denied statins, a cholesterol-lowering drug. The alert was raised after it was discovered that the tool used to assess a patient’s risk of heart disease had suffered glitch.

The system allowed GPs to submit patient details such as age, body-mass index and smoking habits and calculate the patient’s risk of having a heart attack in the next decade. It is estimated that around 2,500 surgeries in England are likely to be affected by the malfunction.

A spokesperson for the MHRA said: “We are working closely with the company responsible for the software to establish the problem and address any issues identified, clinical advice is that the risk to patients is low and only a limited number of patients are potentially affected. GPs have been informed and they will contact individual patients should any further action be necessary."

TPP, the IT company that makes the software, said: “TPP is dealing with the issue involving the QRISK2 Calculator in SystmOne, the tool is intended to support GPs in assessing patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease and in developing treatment plans.”