Electronic patient files in all Gauteng hospitals promised for 2018

13 April 2016

All Gauteng hospitals and clinics will have electronic files by 2018.

This prediction is made by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mahlangu "the creation of an electronic health record is taking place at various facilities and is at numerous stages of development. The electronic patient will have a unique number linked to the ID number."

She says that the department "will complete the process of modernizing all health records in the 2018/19 financial year."

I hope that the department meets this deadline but there have already been glitches like the botched attempt to put every patient at the South Rand Hospital on an electronic filing system. This was supposed to be done by March last year, with retrieval of files cut down to less than ten minutes.

I have visited the South Rand hospital where patients continue to wait long times for their paper files, some of which get lost.

Mahlangu now says that the scanning of 2000 patient files at the South Rand Hospital has been completed but this is only one element of building an electronic health record.

The department has a history of broken promises, including the health "smart card" announced with great fanfare by former Premier Mbhazima Shilowa in February 2007 that failed because of corrupt contracts. 

Gauteng hospitals need an integrated health information system that includes electronic patient files as well as accurate costing and efficiency measures.

 Electronic files in all Gauteng hospitals by 2018 would be a great achievement, but I doubt the capacity of the department to do it.

 Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 13 April 2016