Home / Health / Cardboard Box Referrals: Fatal Delays at Victorian Hospital
Cardboard Box Referrals: Fatal Delays at Victorian Hospital
10 Sep
Summary
- 150 critical referrals were lost in cardboard boxes for up to 16 months.
- A cancer patient died and another received a terminal diagnosis due to delays.
- The hospital still relies on paper records, impacting timely patient care.
Mildura Base Public Hospital in Victoria is under investigation after 150 critical patient referrals were discovered in cardboard boxes, having been unread for up to 16 months. This systemic failure, stemming from the hospital's continued use of paper records, has tragically led to the death of one cancer patient and a terminal diagnosis for another. The backlog involved patients needing urgent diagnostic tests and treatments for various cancers.
Hospital insiders revealed that the GP referrals were simply forgotten, preventing any specialist doctor from triaging them. Some documents dated back to December 2024 and were only found in April of this year. This delay meant patients who should have been seen within 30 days faced waits of up to 17 months for specialist appointments, significantly impacting their prognosis and quality of life.
This incident underscores a widespread problem in regional and rural Australian hospitals, where outdated paper-based systems persist. Doctors' groups have long advocated for digital upgrades, but many facilities still rely on manual processes, unlike their urban counterparts. The hospital has since triaged the backlog and booked affected patients into specialist clinics, while Safer Care Victoria oversees the investigation.
