News location:

Canberra Today 25°/29° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Reports confirm hospital records falsified

SIX per cent of records at Canberra Hospital were deliberately falsified by an executive staff member from 2009 to 2012, the a report by accounting firm  PricewaterhouseCoopers into the integrity of Emergency Department records and processes at The Canberra Hospital has confirmed.

The ACT Government had commissioned the report after allegations were raised about anomalies in the Emergency Department’s data.

The report found that about 6 per cent of records where changed from 2009 and that an executive staff member had admitted to making changes. The report also found that there was no indication that the changes were made under the direction of senior management.

The report also found that there were shortcomings in the documentation and data processes; and that other Emergency Department’s have similar problems.

Today the Auditor-General also issued a report into the matter, confirming that a staff member had admitted to making changes to records, and that there were shortcomings in the Emergency Department’s reporting performance system.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, has announced steps the Health Directorate will take to ensure the integrity of its data reporting.

“Considerable work to prevent unauthorised interference with data has already been done. As soon as these issues were detected, additional checks and balances were put in place to ensure the integrity of the data,” she said.

“The Health Directorate has agreed to most of the recommendations from the Auditor-General and PricewaterhouseCoopers,” the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister has instructed the Directorate to bring in new procedures, training and governance documentation around the emergency department’s EDIS computer system. She has also instructed the Directorate to implement new computer access arrangements, including changing the reporting arrangements for the system’s administrators so that they report to a supervisor outside the hospital environment.”

Ms Gallagher said she would write to the Auditor General to request that she review the work that has been done in 12 months.

 

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews