NT rolls out $259m Acacia health records system at Top end renal clinics

Northern Territory health services are on track to be the first in Australia to have a unified digital record keeping system. Read how it will benefit Territorians.

The NT Government’s largest ever IT rollout has moved to its next phase, with the Top End’s renal services now linked to a Territory-wide system.

The $259m Acacia records keeping system will deliver streamlined IT outcomes for doctors, nurses and patients and, when completed, will unify a number of Territory medical records systems in one place.

Chief Minister and Health Minister Natasha Fyles visited the Nightcliff renal unit to speak with health professionals about how the new Acacia system will benefit medical teams and renal patients prior to a rollout at Central Australian renal units next year.

“The Acacia system really is a game changer around ensuring that up-to-date information for our hard-working clinicians is available at the time they’re seeing the patients,” Ms Fyles said.

“It has been rolled out successfully in Katherine and Nhulunbuy (hospitals) so those two hospitals are now using the new system and we have rolled out in the renal care space in the Top End and in the new year we’ll roll it out in Central Australia for renal patients.

“Particularly for renal treatment it is life-saving. They need that treatment regularly but a transient population means we want clinicians to have the most up-to-date information.”

Ms Fyles said the rollout at Royal Darwin Hospital and Palmerston hospitals was expected to begin next year. Territory Health clinics are expected to follow.

Associate Professor Nadarajah Kangaharan, clinical sponsor for the Acacia project, said Acacia would deliver information “in the right time and in the right place” to medicos.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles

“Currently we have to access six different information points to look after the patient so we’ll have to spend extra time to access patient information and put it together,” he said.

“Here we have one system that brings all the information together so you have literally one source of truth and you spend more time talking to patients.

“Test results are available pretty much with one click and we also have access to the MyHealth record very efficiently so you really have lots of information in front of you.

“This means you spend more time with what needs to be done for the patient and talking to the patient as opposed to spending time looking for information.”

Acacia is digital clinical care software based upon InterSystems TrakCare out of the United States. Roll-out began in the Territory in 2017 before progress stalled when Covid-19 broke out.

Chris Hosking, chief executive of the Department of Corporate and Digital Development, said more than 130 people daily were involved in the project.

Chris Hosking, chief executive Department of Corporate and Digital Development.

“A big project like this always has challenges,” he said. “It’s the largest IT project we’ve ever attempted in the Northern Territory government.

“By the time we got through the design and configuration stage the pandemic was upon us so trying to deploy a new health system in the middle of a pandemic was not something we planned for.

“Overall we managed to get through that and then being on the other side of the pandemic we’ve really seen that progress accelerate with going into Katherine in July, Gove in November, renal across the Top End and after Christmas we’ll start the work to get ready for Royal Darwin around the middle of next year.

“On any given day there’s probably about 130 people working on the project. It’s all software and clinicians, doctors, nurses and health professionals working with IT people to design and configure the software the way that health services need to be delivered in the Territory.”

“When we’re finished we’ll be the only state in Australia that has one single digital system right across hospitals, remote primary care and urban community care and right across the jurisdiction. That will be a first in Australia.”