Northern Hospital’s alleged data fraud scandal referred to Victoria’s auditor general

Victoria’s auditor general has been asked to investigate reporting and auditing processes across Victorian hospitals, after claims surfaced that staff at one facility had been falsifying records to meet workload targets.

Claims have surfaced that staff at the Northern Hospital have falsified records. Picture: Supplied

Damning allegations of data fraud at Northern Hospital have been referred to Victoria’s auditor general for investigation.

Shadow health minister Georgie Crozier on Wednesday asked auditor general Andrew Greaves to launch a wide scale investigation of reporting and auditing processes across Victorian hospitals.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed claims Northern Hospital staff had been falsifying records to meet strict new workload targets.

Health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said she first learnt of the allegations after questions were put to her office by the Herald Sun.

She said she had asked the health department to look into the issue but dismissed calls for an independent body to investigate the claims.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Mary-Anne Thomas. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Shadow health minister Georgie Crozier. Picture: Brendan Beckett

“Nonetheless, we need to find out exactly what has happened and that’s why I’ve asked for my department to work with Northern to investigate these allegations,” she said.

“I’m taking this seriously, absolutely, that’s why we’ve commended an investigation.

“I hold our healthcare workers in the highest regard, as I’m sure so do all Victorians, and we expect them to work and operate with integrity at all times and indeed, I’m very confident that that is what is happening in the health care system.

“But we’ll get to the bottom of what’s happened at Northern and when I find out more I’ll be happy to share it with you.”

Screenshots of internal hospital systems, obtained by the Herald Sun, allegedly show patient ambulance offload times being falsified by up to an hour in some cases.

It means the hospital can show it is meeting a new statewide target to transfer 90 per cent of patients from ambulance to hospital staff within 40 minutes.

However the hospital’s emergency department director, Dr Daniel Crompton, denied there was a systematic problem in an email to staff.

“Can I remind you not to communicate with any media outlets/representatives,” he said.

“There is no systematic process of “washing’ our reports to the department.

“I witness the incredible work you do every day and am deeply respectful of this and would not want to share false information with anyone.

“We are proud of what we do and want to work together for our community to make them safe by offloading ambulances as quickly as possible.”

A hospital whistleblower told the Herald Sun the practice of altering patient records had been going on since 2017.

“It is really widespread, and it is ongoing,” they said.

“And it means we are not getting the help we need because on paper we are meeting our targets, so staff are burning out and leaving because in reality we are getting flogged.”

New offload benchmarks were introduced in February for the state’s 17 busiest emergency departments to improve patient transfer times.

Originally published as Northern Hospital’s alleged data fraud scandal referred to Victoria’s auditor general