Blood test scandal engulfing SA Health widens, with delays to urine, tumour and genetic testing

THE blood test scandal engulfing SA Health has widened, with delays to urine, tumour and genetic testing.

• LATEST DEBACLE: SA Health in blood test delay farce
• Doctors try to shut down chemo bungle inquest
• Government halts rollout of $471m patient record system

• READ BELOW: Sick list of health woes

THE blood test scandal engulfing SA Health has widened, with delays to urine, tumour and genetic testing.

And The Advertiser can also reveal that results are not only days late but going missing, causing problems for patients including those awaiting lifesaving chemotherapy treatment.

Officials say the delays could affect treatment, while one chemo patient fears he “would have been a dead man” had the crisis unfolded during his surgery earlier this year.

The Advertiser yesterday revealed a taskforce is investigating how many patients have been put at risk by a backlog in the $33 million SA Pathology computer-based blood test system.

An internal memo obtained by The Advertiser reveals a crisis meeting was called at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital last month to tell clinicians how to deal with the situation.

It states that clinicians have raised concerns over issues including:

SIGNIFICANTLY increased times for urgent specimens, operative specimens and infection control screening swabs.

LOST specimens.

LACK of specimen tracking.

SA Health is hiring 30 new staff and deploying some existing staff to expedite data entry into the statewide Enterprise Pathology Laboratory Information System (EPLIS) after result waiting times blew out.

The taskforce is headed by Dr Tom Stubbs.

An overhaul will include prioritising urgent tests, devising an action plan to improve test times and checking if errors have happened due to delays.

The taskforce headed by Dr Tom Stubbs will check the effect of the delays in test times on patients.

Professionals Australia senior industrial officer Kimberley Rowney, representing SA Pathology scientists and medical technicians, said staff had complained about the system for months.

“Results have gone missing altogether,” she said. “Any delay in testing leads to a delay in treatment for the patient.

“This is a system that is not fit for purpose and we have said so from the get-go.”

Ms Rowney said members were working 120-hour fortnights to deal with the logjam and, while she welcomed 30 new data entry staff, said more scientists and technicians were needed.

She said the delays were not just for blood tests but also for urine, tumours, genetics and other pathology samples.

SA Health officials have played down the delays to “a couple of hours” but Ms Rowney said members were reporting delays of days.

But a spokesman confirmed SA Pathology tested a range of specimens including blood, urine and tissue.

“The taskforce will review all incidents relating to all SA Pathology test delays that have been logged in SA Health’s Safety Learning System,” the spokesman said.

“The taskforce will also review the cause of any delays or misplaced samples and if the EPLIS rollout factored in those delays.”

Chemotherapy patient Michael Bowe and his wife Ann Lees at their Woodside home. Picture: DYLAN COKER

Chemotherapy patient Michael Bowe, 62, of Woodside, had his blood sample disappear this week in what he described as a “debacle”.

After surgery for pancreatic cancer, he now has blood tests each Monday to confirm his blood cell count prior to a chemotherapy session the following day.

“When I met with my clinician this week the results were not present on the system,” he said.

“This seems to have been common. The blood test had to be redone in the infusion suite at hospital before I could commence chemotherapy.

“While there, it was obvious that a lot of patients were in the same position.

“I could hear nurses saying this person is waiting for result and that one is waiting for results and the whole suite was taken up with people again having their blood taken.

“The net effect was that the infusion suite beds and staff were taken up with doing blood tests and waiting for in-house results.

“No doubt a number of patients would have been delayed or deferred in their treatment.

“Hard on the heels of the chemotherapy underdosing fiasco this is a very bad look.”

Mr Bowe noted that if there had been a delay in blood tests results during his surgery in February “I would have been a dead man”.

“My clinician has told me people are at risk from these delays and he is deeply concerned,” Mr Bowe said.

SA Health is instructing clinicians how to request and receive results for critical and urgent tests while they deal with the issue.

Health Minister Stephen Wade likened the problems with EPLIS to the troubled electronic patient record system EPAS, which has been put on hold.

The Public Service Association in February revealed its fears with the rollout of EPLIS.

“Examples of issues reported include the time required to enter details at the point of collection being much slower than the old ULTRA system and various interfaces do not work requiring two NIC identifiers for the one customer,” the PSA said in a report to members. EPLIS was supposed to be a single statewide pathology system to replace two incompatible ULTRA systems and several smaller pathology systems.

THE SICK LIST OF HEALTH WOES

CHEMOTHERAPY: In August 2015, The Advertiser revealed 10 leukaemia patients at the RAH and Flinders received only half their chemotherapy doses due to a typographical error. The Coroner is investigating the death of four patients.

STROKE : In April 2017 The Advertiser reveals the RAH’s two key stroke specialists were both rostered on holidays when two patients arrived and died — the case is before the Coroner.

PROSTATE: In April 2016, SA Pathology executive director Ken Barr was sacked after the Sunday Mail revealed about 100 men received false positive test results.

Former health minister John Hill.

BREAST: In December 2012, then health minister John Hill announced a review into 54,000 BreastScreen SA digital images because 95 cancers fewer than expected were detected.

OAKDEN: A scathing report found widespread failures at the Oakden Older Person’s Mental Health Service and the facility was closed down.

SCANS: In June 2017 The Advertiser reveals more than 300,000 medical scans were incorrectly labelled, such as breasts being labelled as heads.

SPY Mk 1: In December 2014, an investigation determined hidden cameras had spied on SA Pathology staff.

SPY Mk2: In February 2016, 13 clinicians were caught spying on the medical records of Cy Walsh, who killed his father and former Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh.

EPAS: In March 2018, the electronic patient record system criticised by many clinicians, years behind schedule and about $200 million over budget, is put on hold part way through rollout at the Royal Adelaide Hospital as officials work out whether to salvage it or dump it.

BLOOD: In May 2018, delayed and missing blood test results triggered a taskforce to try to fix issues caused by a $33 million new computer system and to find out how many, if any, patients were put at risk.