Enterprise Pathology Laboratory Information System

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:21): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, the Hon. Stephen Wade. Considering revelations today that SA Pathology blood tests are being delayed because of computer backlogs caused by the Enterprise Pathology Laboratory Information System, can the minister provide an update on how SA Health is now dealing with patient records since his government froze the rollout of the troubled EPAS system?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:22): I am not sure whether the honourable member wants me to talk about EPLIS or EPAS. EPLIS is the pathology laboratory information system. Perhaps I will address both programs. In relation to what I have inherited as the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, two of the biggest headaches are Labor's botching of health IT systems. The house and this state are very well aware of the disaster of EPAS. The costs have blown out to $471 million, which is basically double the original estimate. It was supposed to be fully rolled out by 2014; that still has not happened.

In relation to what this government did: when we were elected we honoured our commitment to pause the rollout, following advice from clinicians and health professional bodies. We did not complete the stage 2 rollout of EPAS at the RAH, and that is still paused. The rollout at Flinders Medical Centre and at Mount Gambier, scheduled for later this year, is also put on hold. We are in the process of procuring an independent reviewer. As the government committed from opposition, all options will be on the table, including scrapping the project.

In terms of EPLIS, this was another bungled IT process from the former Labor government. It is very concerning to see that, particularly since December last year, there has been a significant increase in the number of issues that have been raised with SA Health. The implementation, the full rollout of EPLIS was completed in the middle of April. What has become evident in recent weeks is that there is a significant delay in test results.

Because of that, I spoke to SA Health and a task force has been established to look at improving SA Pathology testing times following those delays. Some wait times for laboratory tests have increased for hospitals and GPs, and the increase in test turnaround times is largely due to complex initial data entry requirements associated with the EPLIS rollout. Timely test results are obviously vital in providing prompt and appropriate care for patients. Delays have the potential to impact the level of care being provided.

The task force to be headed by Dr Tom Stubbs has been established to review all incidents due to test delays which have been lodged in SA Health's Safety Learning System—that is, all lodgements since January this year—so we are wanting to get a representative indicator of how the system is going. We will look at the reasons for the delays to determine the impacts on patient outcomes and recommend any additional action needed to ensure test turnaround times return to normal.

Following feedback from clinicians, the task force will also review the reporting format for the test results and if any errors have occurred as a result. It is expected the task force will report back in the next few months. Interim advice provided by the task force will be implemented as it is determined. I am advised that the first meeting of the task force will be held on Tuesday and that Dr Stubbs is planning to visit SA Pathology on Friday.

EPAS was supposed to be completed by June 2014, and it is now more than three years behind schedule. The problem with EPLIS is that the financial impact is yet to be determined. One of the responses that SA Health has taken to try to deal with the problem is to employ an additional 30 staff. I understand that will rise to 35. It is still not clear how many of those will be needed ongoing.

This was a program that the former minister, Mr Snelling, bragged about as an opportunity to make savings within the health system, yet here we have yet another Labor health IT project which is actually going to cost more than it was originally budgeted for and it is not delivering the level of care that South Australians expect or deserve.