The State’s Auditor-General has released an information brief on Queensland Health’s new finance and supply chain management system.
The Auditor-General, Brendan Worrall said the brief’s objective was to identify the facts relating to Queensland Health’s implementation of SAP S/4HANA, its new finance and supply chain management system, and the subsequent actions the Department had taken as a result.
“On 1 August 2019, after several delays, Queensland Health launched SAP S/4HANA,” Mr Worrall said.
“While the system operated as implemented, Queensland Health experienced significant issues, and staff and vendors soon encountered problems.”
He said how Queensland Health addressed the system issues was of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, as S/4HANA was also the core inventory system it used to manage the critical supply and distribution of personal protective equipment for front-line doctors and nurses.
Mr Worrall said there were a number of challenges involving the complexity of the system; the fact that entities involved had poor understanding of their responsibilities and the system’s processes; and that while chief executives said their entities were ready “with caveats”, none had fully completed their readiness activities.
The Auditor-General made two recommendations: One directed at future whole-of-Queensland Health information and communication technology projects, and one on the inventory management module.
“These will be important considerations when Queensland Health restarts the Hospital Based Corporate Information System replacement project,” Mr Worrall said.
The Auditor-General’s 34-page information brief can be accessed at this PS News link.
