Specialist slates health service

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 8

Specialist slates health service

PA Dunedin The Health Department’s Electronic Processing Division is not performing any useful function and should be shut down, says a Dunedin eye specialist, Dr Tony Molteno. “Its functions can now be cheaply and simply taken over by electronic office equipment,” he said.

Dr Molteno, a longstanding critic of the centralised system, said several years ago he predicted that no matter what was spent, no significant benefit would result

for the public. "They have cumulatively spent for no tangible benefit what must be more than $lOO million,” he said. .

Dr Molteno was head of the eye department at Tygerberg Hospital in South Africa before coming to New Zealand in 1977. He said an identical system was adopted there by the Cape provincial administration.

“When they realised it was a great mistake, instead of shutting the system down they continued to spend desperately. “But the system has fundamental flaws. It col-

lects information which is of little use medically.

“Now New Zealand has been going down the same path.” . The Health Department was "attempting” to provide basic computing ser-. vices to two wards at Dunedin Hospital on a trial basis.

“They have not yet been able to do so,” Dr Molteno said.

“My opinion is that fundamental flaws in the centralised system mean they won’t be able to provide a usable service.”

A trial in Auckland several years ago failed, raising the question of whether the project should be abandoned, he said. “It was decided at the time they had spent so much money they should go on. “Failure in Dunedin will raise the question in a more acute form since computer equipment is now so cheap the concept of a centrally staffed large computer is that much less cost-effective.” Dr Molteno said technical reports and reasons for introducing computer equipment into the Health Service should be made

public so they could be subjected to competent criticism.

The general manager of the Electronic Processing Division, Mr Ivan Shipp, said he was appointed after a very critical report on the division by the Auditor General.

Mr Shipp said the latest report from the Auditor General, however, had been positive. He said the division now employed between 120 and 150 people and had a working budget of $6 million to $7 million. This did not include capital costs. The division was now administered by a private board.

“The hospital boards are not bound to have our

system. If they can find a cheaper solution that is part of our policy,” he said.

All but one hospital board were on the payroll system and every board used the financial control system.

There were also two patient management systems. The division hoped every hospital with more than 170 beds would be on this by June or JulyOtago was the first of, the new pilot sites, but; other sites were also being looked at. There were plans to link bracelet identification tags to the national system to join. the donor . system and a new blood management system.