Spreadsheet Glitch - A Lesson from England
Between September 25 and October 2, newspapers reported an epic IT mistake where England lost data for nearly 16,000 new coronavirus cases.
What Happened
According to Standard Evening, the mistake happened while data was being transferred from NHS test-and-trace to Public Health England. It is believed that a spreadsheet containing lab result data reached its maximum file size, preventing an update to the Public Health system. Tallies are extremely important during a pandemic and Excel spreadsheets are not ideal for compiling and sharing critical data.
"Excel is useful for small tasks but not for handling large quantities of metadata."
- Richard Bingley, founder of Covent Garden-based Global Cyber Academy
The Repercussions
Untraceable Exposure
Although the unrecorded patients who tested positive received their results, their names were not included in the country’s contact tracing system. This means tens of thousands of people unaware of their potential exposure. By Monday October 5, only half of the 16,000 who tested positive had received a contact tracing call. After the error was discovered, the lost cases were added to the tally causing a startling jumping from 12,872 on Saturday to 22,961 on Sunday (The Washington Post).
Fragmented Workflows
Stakeholders in healthcare rely on the same types of data but do not have a unified, real-time database. In the absence of complete data, contact tracers could not follow up on cases and the government had an inaccurate picture of the coronavirus outbreak. The spreadsheet glitch in England was not merely an IT oversight, it revealed a serious gap in the workflow.
Overworked Healthcare Professionals
Once the error had been revealed, healthcare professionals worked urgently to contact people who may need to self-isolate immediately (Evening Standard). Additional assistance was also needed to verify and re-input the lost spreadsheet data.
Yet there is more to talk about how a glitch in spreadsheets affects the whole system in a pandemic. The more important thing now is to find a trustworthy solution for coronavirus data management to smoothen the workflow.
How MIMOSI Health Helps
MIMOSI Health solves the fragmentation issues in the COVID-19 test-trace-treat-tally workflow. Built on blockchain technology, it is the one-stop-shop for trusted COVID-19 data across a healthcare facility, province or country. With MIMOSI Health, stakeholders in healthcare and government can quickly and securely communicate real-time data and trends, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
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References
Mueller B., (October 2020), Nearly 16,000 cases in the U.K. weren’t counted because of a spreadsheet glitch, The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/05/world/covid-trump#nearly-16000-cases-in-the-uk-werent-counted-because-of-a-spreadsheet-glitch
Booth W., and Armus T., (October 2020), England lost 16,000 new coronavirus cases, blames computer glitch, The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/england-lost-16000-new-coronavirus-cases-blames-computer-glitch/2020/10/05/6f40c3ca-0700-11eb-8719-0df159d14794_story.html
Cecil N., and Lydall R., (October 2020), Excel spreadsheet blunder blamed as Covid testing glitch 'may have led to missed cases', Evening Standard. Retrieved from https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-testing-technical-issue-excel-spreadsheet-a4563616.html