Rollout of electronic health records delayed until after completion of Children's Hospital

Social Democrats health spokeswoman Róisín Shortall noted the HSE’s former chief information officer Richard Corbridge quit his position in frustration in 2018. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

A Government decision in 2018 to refuse funding for electronic health records until after the new Children’s Hospital is complete has left the HSE struggling to patch up digital networks.

The Oireachtas health committee noted that 2018 was also the same year a former HSE chief information officer quit his post in frustration. 

In response, the committee now wants to hear from former secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) Robert Watt, who is currently secretary general for the Department of Health.

This decision and successive delays were described as a “political failure” by Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane.

Using paper-based files is “cumbersome, slow, and inefficient”, HSE officials said.

The committee also heard distressing examples of how delays affect patients. 

In one case, a woman saved records on her phone to share with nurses. In another, an elderly man was treated in hospital, with doctors only realising on the last day he previously had cancer.

The decision by DPER left the committee visibly surprised, as they questioned the logic of waiting for the completion of a hospital that has faced significant construction delays.

Social Democrats health spokeswoman Róisín Shortall asked what kind of funding was delayed.

HSE chief information officer Fran Thompson told her: “Purely on the EHR [electronic health record], it would be capital and staffing, because part of deploying an EHR requires significant staffing investment, both short-term and longer term.” 

She requested these figures be shared with the committee.

Senator Sean Kyne requested questions be put to Mr Watt. Ms Shortall echoed this request, noting the HSE’s former chief information officer Richard Corbridge quit his position in frustration in 2018.

Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe said more was known about his car in the NCT system than about his own health in hospitals. He described an elderly patient whose doctors were completely unaware they were treating him for a third successive serious illness.

Green Party health spokeswoman Neasa Hourigan asked when they expect EHRs to be in place.

“The deployment of an EHR nationally will take five to seven years,” Mr Thompson said.

However, she added once approval was denied, they "pivoted and are not working on the EHR nationally”. 

Instead, smaller projects were rolled out including unique health identifier numbers issued with Covid-19 vaccinations.

“Our technology and ehealth solutions need to be radically overhauled in order to provide the type of solutions required for a modern health service,” he said.

Only four maternity hospitals use digital files, including Cork University Maternity Hospital.

Consultant paediatrician/neonatologist Dr Brendan Murphy previously worked in Cork and is now in Waterford. He said he and other doctors “miss” the EHR.

“We worked out nursing staff were saving in the region of 45 minutes per shift,” he said. 

The committee also heard from Health Research Charities Ireland chief executive Dr Avril Kennan.

She said she was also not aware of the DPER decision before this hearing, and was very disappointed to hear this.

She described a patient in the Midlands, saying: “Her health records are filed with her GP, on paper in different departments in two separate hospitals, more recently with an online doctor and also in her handbag. There is no centralised record of her complicated medical history."