Dead patients are reportedly being booked for operations in public hospitals across Australia's Northern Territory due to failures in the $335 million Acacia health IT system, according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA).
The AMA disclosed this alarming issue in its second submission to a parliamentary inquiry investigating the troubled Acacia patient record system. The submission highlights that surgical services have been most affected, with doctors uncertain how the system is scheduling surgeries for deceased individuals.
Acacia, first announced in 2016, was intended to consolidate multiple legacy patient record systems into a single integrated platform. However, it has failed to fully replace older systems, necessitating the continued use of legacy software alongside Acacia. AMA NT branch president John Zorbas described the situation as "like having seven apps open on your desktop to do one process."
Due to safety concerns, Acacia was suspended from use in the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital. Dr. Zorbas also noted other errors caused by Acacia, such as incorrect next-of-kin details being imported into patient files.
An "incredibly laborious" audit process has been established to address the issue of dead patients being booked for surgery. Dr. Zorbas expressed concern that healthcare workers have had to divert time from their regular duties to fix these problems.
The AMA's submission further revealed a "chilling effect" where some doctors fear speaking out about Acacia's problems due to confidentiality concerns and potential job loss. There is also reported distrust among doctors towards NT Health, the Department of Corporate Digital Development, and whistleblower protections.
Dr. Zorbas commented on the ambitious nature of the project, stating, "The idea that we, the Territory, a very small jurisdiction with a very small budget, would be able to have one single system that would just work across all domains, primary care, tertiary care, it was a gargantuan task and was doomed from the start, to be honest."
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