The State Coroner has slammed SA Health’s controversial new electronic patient records system for “effectively preventing the court from establishing the truth” in the death of a former Socceroo. Coroner Mark Johns is investigating the death of Stephen Herczeg, 72, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on September 19 last year. SA Health E Health Systems chief director William LeBlanc fronted the inquest on Wednesday and was unable to explain one of the documents assessing Mr Herczeg’s condition that had been generated by EPAS. That prompted Mr Johns to question how SA Health had submitted “considerably worse than satisfactory” evidence. “How on earth is it that printing a hard copy is not included as a basic function of EPAS?” he said. “Was the system trying to avoid the scrutiny by courts?” Mr Johns said he had raised the issue of the functionality of EPAS with Health Minister Jack Snelling for more than a year.
