Tech issues at Northern Beaches Hospital raises patient safety fears

General practitioners say they are worried about patient safety after longstanding tech problems at Northern Beaches Hospital, it was revealed this week.

Exterior of Northern Beaches Hospital in Frenchs Forest. Picture: Julie Cross.

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General practitioners have not been receiving automatic patient discharge notes from Northern Beaches Hospital because of IT problems.

And faxing vital patient information to the emergency department was also problematic because the machine is often full, according to one GP who did not want to be named.

Chief Medical Officer at Healthscope Victoria Atkinson, who has been overseeing the running of Northern Beaches Hospital while they look for a new CEO and CMO. Picture: Supplied.

The problem was raised at a meeting of nearly 100 GPs at NBH this week, where some were quite vocal in their concerns.

The anonymous senior GP said she and her fellow northern beaches colleagues were concerned about patient safety. “There are numerous issues where poor communication can impact on patient health care,” she said.

“It’s hit and miss sending scans or letters to the emergency department because the fax machine is often full and won’t accept it.

Generic photo of a GP and patient. Picture: iStock

“There is no way to send information by secure electronic messaging.

“They’re not getting information from us and we are not getting information from them and what we are getting is inadequate.”

The aim of the meeting organised by the Private Health Network was to introduce GPs to senior doctors and specialists at NBH.

Dr Stephen Ginsborg, an Avalon GP, was not at the meeting but confirmed that GPs were not receiving patient discharge summaries unless they asked for them, which only worked if they knew a patient had gone into hospital.

“It’s obviously a challenge for GPs who want to provide continuity of care,” he said. “It does effect patient safety.”

The anonymous GP was told that summaries would start coming through three weeks ago, but she still hasn’t had notes from one of her patient’s who was discharged a week ago.

A Healthscope spokesman said GPs were now receiving summaries and said the fax machine working. “Our Emergency Department’s fax machine is monitored regularly and working well,” he said.

“We have never had a complaint about receiving referrals in this way and, as always, welcome any feedback to further improve our services.”