NHS computer system problems
The Guardian’s Andy Beckett recently provided an interesting report on NHS’ computer system and its numerous issues.
The £12.7bn NHS computer programme is five years behind schedule and beset by criticism, viruses and fears over patient privacy. So should the world’s biggest IT project be scrapped?
Read the full story here.
Minnesota now fixing computer error that affected handling of traffic convictions
As WDIO reports, a computer error prevented traffic violations from properly showing on thousands of driver records:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – State officials are resolving a computer error that kept thousands of old traffic convictions from showing up on drivers’ records. Between 2003 and 2008, more than 18,000 convictions were mishandled.
The records are being updated now, meaning some drivers are facing suspensions and revocations that should have been imposed years ago.
This occurred during a years-long transition to a new computer system. More over at the Star Tribune.
Wired’s History’s Worst Software Bugs
Back in 2005, Wired published a piece on History’s Worst Software Bugs. The list includes gems like the following:
- Mariner 1 destruction
- the alleged Siberian pipeline sabotage
- Therac-25 radiation therapy failure
- Ariane 5’s expensive 501 flight
- etc.
Check it out for some instructive cases.
Computer outage delays United flights at O’Hare
An outage of United’s check-in system caused delays at Chicago’s O’Hare earlier today, as reported by Chicago Breaking News:
FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said that United had ordered a ground stop of its planes on its own that ended at 7:55 a.m. The problem began about 5:15 a.m., she said.
United had told the FAA that it was a computer issue that made the airline unable to check in people for flights and resulted in an inability to get final flight information to the cockpit, Cory said.
“I only remember in my 10 years one other time” that computer glitches have caused this much trouble with flights, Cory said.
By about 9 a.m., an airline spokeswoman said that it was manually checking in travelers through mobile units and laptop computers to facilitate check-in for as many customers as possible, Szadokierski said. To get around the computer glitch, agents at the check-counters also called agents at other airport to have them check in travelers, with O’Hare agents then writing out boarding passes, she said.
The problems have since been addressed, but it took several hours and caused significant delays and some cancellations for travelers shortly before the beginning of 4th of July weekend. Larger-scale flight delays at major airports tend to have ripple effects, as schedules at many other connecting airports become affected.
This is also really expensive. In 2007 alone, flight delays were estimated to have cost the economy more than $40B.
Software problem causes alcohol distribution delays in Washington state
The Seattle Times reports some stores and bars running low on alcoholic beverages due to distribution delays.
State workers are scrambling to fix a distribution problem that has crimped the flow of alcohol to customers across the state, as liquor stores and restaurants are gearing up for one of the busiest weekends of the year.
[...]
State officials blame the difficulties on a glitch in a new software system that controls the movement of 18,000 cases of liquor a day through the state’s distribution center on East Marginal Way South in Seattle.
This is poor timing not just because of the upcoming 4th of July weekend and state staff are working hard on fixing the issue:
The computer program, from Atlanta-based CDC Software, is the key to successful operation of a highly automated system in which cases of liquor are moved from shelves and sent along conveyors in time to be placed in trucks serving all 161 state-run and 154 contract liquor stores in the state.
Smith said the software problem has been corrected, but the system is still dealing with a backlog of orders, while trying to meet the increased demand that comes with the Fourth of July holiday.
State workers have put in more than 2,200 hours of overtime, and six temporary “hub” distribution sites have been set up to ensure that customers, including restaurants, have access to at least the highest-demand beverages.
Expensive.
It is worth paying attention to how often new or recently upgraded systems are involved with visible cases like this.
Unemployment claim computer system disruption in Colorado
The state’s computerized phone system for unemployment claims crashed, causing long hold times and significant delays recently:
Problems with CUBline on-line, where people either register an initial claim or update existing claims in order to continue collecting unemployment, came to the department’s attention on Sunday. But the computer crashes and time-outs could have started earlier than that, said Department of Labor spokesman Bill Thoennes.
The system was apparently up and running again as of yesterday, but the cause of the failure has not been found yet.
Glitch in computer system prevents Ohio doctors from renewing their licenses online
Thousands of medical doctors have been unable to renew their state licenses online for days in Ohio. Those licenses were set to expire on June 30:
About 5,000 doctors statewide needed to renew their medical licenses before the midnight deadline, according to the State Medical Board of Ohio.
State Medical Board spokeswoman Joan Wehrle said the shutdown affected more than just doctors who were attempting to renew their license on the last day.
”All of the regulatory boards for the state use the centralized E-licensing system,” Wehrle said. ”People in many different professions needed to renew their license June 30.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, Wehrle said computer technicians were still trying to determine what happened.
Without a valid license a doctor would not be allowed to work in Ohio. This could be disruptive, particularly in rural areas without many doctors. The deadline has been extended to allow doctors to make the trip to Columbus to renew their licenses in person – and for support staff to address the technical problem with the computer system.
E-ZPass problems in New York State
Buffalo News reports that thousands of E-ZPass motorists received erroneous speeding notices and warnings:
DiTullio is one of at least four motorists who claim they were wrongly accused of speeding through the E-ZPass lane at the Grand Island Thruway toll barrier.
But Thruway Authority officials say they are unaware of any “wholesale problems” at that location.
The complaints about Grand Island were made a day after the authority confirmed that a technical malfunction at the Dunkirk-Fredonia exit caused about 3,600 motorists to be mistakenly cited for speeding through an E-ZPass lane.
Here is a video clip from a WIVB-TV story on this:
Notably it sounds like some people received an (appropriate) apology, while others had a suspension reduced to warning. The faulty equipment has supposedly been replaced.
Baggage system error delays thousands at London’s Heathrow
Problems with the baggage system at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 prevented numerous people from checking in for their British Airways flights on July 28.
Hundreds of British Airways passengers were left stranded at Heathrow Terminal 5 last night after the baggage system collapsed again.
Thousands more furious travellers faced severe delays and – amid chaotic scenes – many had to travel with only hand luggage.
This affected an estimated 5000 travelers and caused both delays and expenses for many. It is also not the first time that significant baggage handling problems disrupted operations at Terminal 5. Gizmodo’s Why: Heathrow Airport Terminal 5’s High Tech Failings discusses the problems that arose, just as the Terminal was opened early last year.
Buggy computer system delays food stamps in Denver
The Denver Post reports that problems with a computer system are seriously slowing down the processing of food stamp applications.
For five years, CBMS — a database that processes applications for help, including Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and food stamps — has been problematic.
At first, the system chucked some applicants out while overpaying others. State officials remedied that but had to reimburse the federal government more than $9 million in December for the mistakes.
Counties also complained that CBMS is nonintuitive, that it takes 45 minutes to enter data for one application and that, when moving from one screen to the other, things like names and addresses have to be re-entered.
It sounds bad enough for small numbers of applications. The recession has however brought a significantly increased demand, which just exacerbates the problem.
This is a serious problem and the state is putting some serious money into fixing it:
Last fall, the state awarded a $90,000 contract to the system’s creator, Electronic Data Systems, to study how to simplify and quicken the program for counties and clients. A report was issued to the Joint Budget Committee, but it didn’t go anywhere because the state switched vendors.
A new $48.6 million four-year contract with Deloitte Consulting will include creating a Web-based application system in nine months, state officials say. This will enable people anywhere to apply for help, logging on from libraries, home or senior centers.
It will be interesting to follow along and see whether this project gets completed or what will be available after those nine months.
