Northern Health has launched a review following claims that staff at Northern Hospital have been inaccurately recording ambulance transfer times.
The allegations centre on whether patient handover times from ambulances have been routinely recorded to appear within target benchmarks, even when delays may have occurred.
These concerns are now the subject of internal examination.
A Northern Health spokesperson confirmed the service is aware of the claims.
“We have been made aware of these claims and are reviewing the matter. Northern Health takes these allegations very seriously.”
According to the state guidelines, 90 per cent of ambulance patients should be transferred into hospital care within 40 minutes.
Northern Health operates with a slightly lower internal benchmark, aiming for 80 per cent within that time-frame.
The spokesperson added that while there had been improvements in the timely transfer of patients, “we continue to work with our teams and Ambulance Victoria to improve our performance.”
They also noted that all data is “validated periodically according to departmental and health service procedures.”
The review is ongoing, and no further comment has been made at this stage.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas addressed the issue on ABC Radio, confirming she had read the allegations in a newspaper report but had not been previously briefed.
“No I don’t,” Ms Thomas said, when asked if she was aware of the claims.
“Once again I’ve read anonymous sources in a newspaper story this morning but they’re serious allegations, so my department will work with Northern to get to the bottom of them.”
She emphasised the importance of accuracy in health reporting and noted there were mechanisms for staff to speak up.
“It’s always my expectation that health services ensure that the data sets are reported accurately and there are verification processes in place to ensure this,” Ms Thomas explained.
“There are many ways in which staff can raise concerns, in relation to issues like this.”
When asked why the data might be falsified, Ms Thomas said there was no obvious incentive.
“There are no financial incentives to fake the data. We’ve got to find out what’s really happening out there.”
