Patients are being lost in the system with new computer programmes being used in Oxford -- but the trust involved says no one has been put at risk.

Hospital Trust board papers for the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford have identified 'major issues of patient safety' while using the new National Programme for IT.

The £6.2bn system provides an on-line booking service, centralised medical records and fast links between NHS organisations. Board papers dated March 6 said patients were getting 'lost in the system' after being dropped from waiting lists or not being called for important treatment.

It has also caused what the trust calls 'major operational difficulties' including a backlog of appointments.

A spokesman from NHS Connecting for Heath, which runs the computer programme, has said no risk to patient safety has occurred.

In the trust report, executive director of nursing and operations, Jan Fowler, said there had not been enough time to test the system. She added: "It is likely that it will take the trust some months to address all of the issues which have risen as a consequence of the care records system implementation."

After the system went live, staff reported operational disruption caused by software problems and a potential risk to patient safety, business, morale and public and patient confidence.

In a joint statement from the NHS Connecting for Health and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust, a spokesman said: "Patients are not at risk.

"Reporting a serious untoward incident does not mean individual patients were at risk and they were not in this case. It was a general alert in line with proper NHS process.

"The Trust, NHS Connecting for Health and Fujitsu - the Local Service Provider -- are fully engaged in addressing the issues. Intensive work by all parties has already resolved the vast majority of issues raised and we fully expect the remaining small number of concerns to be resolved in the near future."

The spokesman added lessons learned from the teething problems at Oxford would be used to improve instalment at 20 more trusts across the south of England.

South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, of the House of Commons public accounts committee, has written to the National Audit Office asking for an investigation.