March 2027 is looking like a critical turning point for the troubled multi-billion-dollar Epic rollout.
The Single Digital Patient Record Implementation Authority has given a typically roundabout non-answer to a very specific question – will it be folded back into eHealth NSW rather than continue as a standalone agency?
Sources within the SPDRIA workforce this week gave Health Services Daily three significant pieces of information.
First, in an internal staff meeting, acting CEO Wendy Hoey allegedly told workers that funding for the Authority was “not guaranteed” beyond March of 2027 – the month of the NSW state election, not coincidentally.
Second, another senior staff member told HSD that speculation was rife that the Authority would be folded in under the eHealth NSW umbrella with the rollout of the country’s biggest ever digital health project to continue under the eye of CEO Richard Taggart.
Third, at least one team in the SDPRIA has been told there was a recruitment freeze coming – departing staff members, particularly in project management, would not be replaced.
The common denominator in all this speculation is the piecemeal nature of the information being given to employees of the SDPRIA, a steady drip feed of seemingly unrelated tidbits, with nobody getting the full picture – a symptom of the poor workplace culture discovered by the independent psychosocial review held in July.
Since that review the news on the SDPRIA has been all disconcerting for anyone interested in the successful rollout of the massive Epic EMR statewide project.
The change to Tranche B of the rollout – which will now consist of Northern Beaches Hospital in November, and, at least officially, Northern NSW, Mid North Coast, Northern Sydney, and Central Coast, and the rest of the Laboratory Information Management System North network coming in March.
Staff still have not been told the official go-live date for the NBH integration, HSD has been told.
In August NSW budget estimates was told that NSW Health was reworking the organisational and operating model behind its $2 billion SDPR program.
In September, CEO Dr Teresa Anderson quit while on four weeks’ annual leave, announcing her retirement with immediate effect.
And now there will be an audit of the SDPR rollout conducted by the Audit Office of NSW. Public submissions are open until 4 December, so it’s hard to imagine the report will be published much before … dare we say, March 2027.
Related
HSD sent questions off to NSW Health, eHealth NSW and the SDPRIA on Tuesday asking a very specific set of questions to each one.
NSW Health and eHealth NSW are yet to reply – no surprises there.
The SDPRIA was sent the following questions:
- Has SDPRIA management advised staff that funding for the Authority is not guaranteed beyond March 2027?
- What funding is currently approved specifically for SDPRIA as an organisation beyond 31 March 2027?
- Has SDPRIA been advised of, consulted on or participated in discussions about transferring its functions, staff or responsibilities to eHealth NSW?
- Is SDPRIA currently planning for any restructure, machinery-of-government change, wind-up or transfer of functions during 2027?
- Have SDPRIA staff been briefed about the Authority’s future beyond March 2027?
- If so, what have they been told?
- Would any change to SDPRIA’s structure affect its workforce, executive structure or existing employment arrangements?
- Does SDPRIA expect to remain the entity responsible for leading the SDPR implementation through the currently scheduled statewide rollout to the end of 2028?
Here is the response we received from the Authority on Wednesday afternoon, after our deadline:
“The Single Digital Patient Record Implementation Authority (SDPRIA) is focused on the delivering the Single Digital Patient Record across NSW as part of a phased roll out through to the end of 2028.
“SDPRIA is working in partnership with eHealth NSW, technology partners and the wider NSW Health system to deliver a program which will transform how people experience healthcare by bringing a patients’ health information into one secure place.
“As with any program of this size, delivery arrangements, resourcing, and other requirements are reviewed regularly to support a successful implementation and ongoing support functions once live.”
Make of that what you will.
The bottom line is this – the stars are aligning for a dramatic change to the way the Epic rollout is handled. A state election in March, most of Tranche B delayed until March, and an upcoming audit of how the rollout has been handled so far – all that points to not much getting done, other than the NBH integration, before the election.
HSD hears the NBH project is hectic, and that there is still fallout from the Tranche A rollout at Hunter New England LHD, with frontline staff – particularly in oncology and surgical – exceptionally displeased with the product.
The Authority’s website – which hasn’t been updated since March – still maintains Tranche B will be completed by “late 2026” and Tranche C – South Eastern Sydney LHD, Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, LIMS East, Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, and SCHN LIMS – will be done by “mid 2027”.