Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has discovered that 2,400 documents in their electronic patient records have not been sent to general practitioners (GPs) due to an error in the computer system.

The error was brought to attention following correspondence from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in mid-September.

These documents included discharge summaries, clinic letters, and internal documents from the past five years.

The problem occurred because the letters that needed to be checked by a senior doctor were put into a folder that not many staff knew about, the BBC reported.

Hospital staff have been told to record any problems that happen to patients because of this mistake and fix them.

According to the Trust, it has investigated the issue and is taking steps to resolve it.

Apologising for the mistake and inconvenience caused to patients, it emphasised the importance of every patient contact.

It is also stated that the Trust is currently reviewing documents and this process will be completed over the next two months.

The BBC said that the CQC is monitoring the Trust closely and could inspect the hospital at any time if they have concerns.

In addition, the hospital is now working to fix the backlog of 6,000 letters from the past year, with some of these letters concerning medicine and emergency care.