Auditor Caroline Spencer calls on Department of Health to update data collection as emergency costs soar

The total cost of emergency department services has skyrocketed over the past five years, according to a fresh audit that has put the Health Department under pressure to overhaul its data management. Auditor General Caroline Spencer this week handed down the findings of her probe into emergency department data. The watchdog found hospital EDs had “multiple and ageing systems” that were “unauditable” as part of standard financial and KPI processes. Ms Spencer found this created “risks” for the 24 EDs across WA, as well as “frustration” for hospital staff. “(The Department of Health) needs to continue efforts to improve data quality and must address weak system controls that continue to reduce the integrity and accuracy of ED information,” the auditor wrote. Ms Spencer called on the Department to prioritise the planned refresh of its WA Health Digital Strategy 2020-2030, and to get it done by mid-2025. The auditor also found hospitals, including EDs, were under increasing cost pressure. Since 2018-19, emergency presentations had increased by only 7.6 per cent. But in the same time, the cost of ED services had jumped by 37.6 per cent — an additional $295.7 million. Ms Spencer warned data quality issues could impact efficiencies. “These issues will only be fully addressed when information system controls are improved or when old information systems and the reliance on paper patient medical records are replaced with an effective WA Health electronic medical record system,” she said.