Health minister acknowledges ‘challenges’ but says medical record system rollout will move forward

CITYbews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Nova Scotia’s health minister says the rollout of an electronic medical record system to more of the province’s hospitals will go ahead this weekend as planned, as the opposition leaders call for a pause due to concerns from health care workers.

The One Person One Record system, which has been trialled at the IWK Health Centre, is scheduled to expand to all hospitals in the Central Health zone, which includes the Halifax area, on Saturday, May 9.

Last week, the NSGEU released the results of a survey of 260 workers represented by the union at the IWK, finding 80 per cent of respondents feel the implementation of the OPOR system has gone poorly. Concerns included added stress, missing documentation, and impacts to duties.

NDP leader Claudia Chender and Liberal leader Iain Rankin have now written letters to the health minister, asking for a pause on the rollout.

“We have heard from families and staff about missing records, medication errors, and delays in care because of issues with how the system has been implemented at the IWK,” reads a statement from Chender. “People deserve to know that the government is taking these issues seriously and there is a plan to ensure problems are addressed before OPOR moves into more hospitals.”

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In a statement to CityNews, Health Minister Michelle Thompson said the planned expansion of OPOR will go ahead as scheduled, calling the system a “significant technological change.”

“Nova Scotians shouldn’t have to retell their medical history to every new healthcare provider they see, and healthcare professionals shouldn’t have to spend precious time navigating multiple systems to get the patient information they need to provide care,” Thompson said.

In the statement, Thompson acknowledged concerns raised by healthcare workers, calling the initial implementation of the system “challenging” while saying a transition period was expected.

“We are still in that transition period now, and we understand and appreciate it has been frustrating and difficult at times,” Thompson said. “Change is not always easy, but we have every confidence that our clinicians have the skills, resilience, and persistence to achieve success for their teams and their patients.”

In his letter to the minister, Rankin said government should listen to the people providing care.

“I’m asking your government to pause further implementation planned for May 9 until these concerns are addressed by improving training, fixing system issues, and making sure staff feel confident before expanding to more sites,” Rankin wrote.

Responding to the NSGEU’s findings last week, Nova Scotia Health said extensive training has been put in place for staff.