The government has found who to blame for the MetaHealth software issue which has plagued it for the past few days – Labor.
Fairfax Media revealed on Tuesday that significant problems had been identified with the health software system 17 months ago. Further “outstanding risks” were identified on October 23. Those risks included patients being given the wrong medication or wrong doses. A software patch has been ordered to fix the issue.
But the matter dominated question time for the government on Tuesday. The Opposition demanded – and received – a departmental briefing note from July 2013 which warned of issues with the software.
“I think it is important to look at the background to this piece of software because there is an interesting bit of history here,” Premier Campbell Newman said.
“Specialist clinical information systems are essential to improve patient care at modern hospitals.
“So the planning for the introduction of this particular system, the MetaVision system, commenced for six major Queensland hospitals in 2007. The Prince Charles Hospital followed in December 2011.”
Mr Newman said Townsville, Rockhampton and Logan moved to the software in 2012 with Cairns following in 2013.
“Who implemented this system? The Australian Labor Party health administration. That is who did it,” Mr Newman said.
“…We are dealing with this. It is not clear whether there are such significant problems, but we will get to the bottom of it and we will make sure that Queensland is the safest place for patients in the health system along with the general community.
“But we know once again that this is a another system – another Labor decision – that we are now sorting out.”
Opposition MP Yvette D’Ath questioned the minister on whether he had “personally overseen the expansion of the rollout of this software from four hospitals to the network of public hospitals right across the state”, pointing to a iMDsoft media release from late 2012 on the government – which by then had changed to the LNP – expanding the scope of its agreement with the company for MetaVision.
Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said the software’s issues had been identified “or there was a strategy to deal with it at the time the new system was implemented only a month or so go”.
“How does that contrast with the Labor Party? When the payroll system in Queensland was going kaput, those opposite were absolutely nowhere to be seen.”
Opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk used her time during matters of pubic interest to rebut Mr Springborg.
“Queenslanders deserve to know why this bungle happened under this health minister’s watch,” she said.
“Why did he only know about it on the weekend when the contract was signed in October 2012? When it was highlighted to him in July 2013?
“…This should be a wake-up call for him. He should now understand that this is a central issue, an issue that Queensland want answers on. There should be no more putting his head in the sand.”
Source: Brisbane Times