AN AILING SYSTEM?

GEELONG’S largest public aged care facility, the McKellar Centre, failed to meet four of 44 expected outcomes in an audit by the aged care commission in January. Barwon Health subsequently received notices of noncompliance for failing to meet the expected outcomes for information systems, specialised nursing care needs, medication management and leisure interest and activities. The audit report noted management “could not demonstrate medications are managed safely and correctly” and also could not demonstrate it had effective information management systems in place. But in April, the centre passed a reassessment by the commission and Barwon Health said it had done “significant work” to address the gaps identified.

HIGHTON residents reacted with furore when in May the Geelong reality he had died. Jeffrey Conway’s family had embarked on a w week-long search in September only t to discover that his body was in a morgue. Mr Conway died in hospital after collapsing outside a cafe in Geelong West. Both Victoria Police and Barwon Health launched investigations into the bungle. Victoria Police blamed a connectivity issue with computer systems for the incident, while Barwon Health CEO Frances Diver said it was a “dreadful miscommunication”.

BARWON Health was hit by a crippling cyber attack on September 30, forcing some elective surgeries and outpatient appointments to be cancelled. It also created significant issues for staff attempting to access patient medical records, which Barwon Health has said were not believed to have been accessed in the hack. The ransomware attack hit health services across Victoria’s southwest and in Gippsland. Ramifications continued for weeks during a lengthy recovery process, with some staff still without email systems in November. The attack came after the Victorian AuditorGeneral’s Office in May reported Barwon Health was “not proactive enough” when it came to cyber security, and hacked the health service to prove it.