Years go by and deadly chemo blunder fix still a work on paper
Chemotherapy blunder victim Andrew Knox is caught in an “endless groundhog day” nightmare as promises of a fast fix to prevent another underdosing disaster drag into years with a new tender.
National
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SA Health has finally moved to issue a new tender for a fail-safe chemotherapy dosing system as years after recommendations for swift action following the deadly underdosing blunder were handed down.
Underdosing victim Andrew Knox said he was caught in an “endless groundhog day” nightmare of promises to fix the system and noted, even with the latest move, a new system would not be in place until next year.
As revealed by The Advertiser last October, plans for a new backup computer program designed to prevent a repeat of underdosing patients were dumped after a risk assessment found the tender was not up to standard.
It followed the scandal exposed by The Advertiser which showed 10 seriously ill cancer patients were underdosed in the bungle between 2014 and 2015, and four have since died.
In November 2017, the Select Committee on Chemotherapy Dosing Errors found “The protracted time frame for the implementation of a state wide electronic system for chemotherapy protocols is unacceptable.”
It recommended that a state wide chemotherapy protocol system “be expedited”. Now, seven months after its first tender plan was cancelled, SA Health has announced a new tender will be issued.
However, the preferred supplier is not expected to be appointed until the end of the year, with no time frame on when a new system will actually begin operating.
In a message to staff, deputy chief executive Lynne Cowan said the system SA Health was seeking would: “reduce the risk of adverse events relating to chemotherapy and cancer survival in South Australian hospitals (and) improve medication safety resulting in a reduction in errors and serious untoward events.”
Mr Knox said he wasn’t “holding my breath” for a fail-safe system any time soon.
“The dire need for a foolproof chemotherapy prescribing system was identified over ten years ago in 2009 – in 2011 a successful tenderer was about to be chosen when the illusion of integration into the EPAS System halted that process,” Mr Knox said.
“A further three years on, by then 2014, it was recognised EPAS was not up to that task and we 10 were underdosed.
“No action took place until the Marshall Government called in November 2018 for tenders for a stand alone system ... here we are again, mid 2020, starting the process for a fourth time.
“Another chemo dosing incident would be a terrible legacy to carry.”
Originally published as Years go by and deadly chemo blunder fix still a work on paper