More than 50 per cent of Bendigo Health clinicians feel burnt out and could leave the city in the next two years, according to an internal hospital survey obtained by the Bendigo Advertiser.
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Up to 40 per cent of the service's nurses and allied health professionals were reporting burn out, and 52 per cent of both groups said they were likely to leave within two years.
Fifty-six per cent of doctors said they were "very likely" to leave, with survey compilers KLAS Research warning that was a strong predictor of turnover.
A Bendigo Health spokesperson said they were taking concerns raised in the survey very seriously and working through an action plan.
Electronic patient record concerns
Staff warnings come amid frank in-house conversations about shortfalls with the hospital's electronic patient record program (ePR), which the Bendigo Health website said had been rolled out since 2020.
One staff member quoted in the document, Bendigo Health 23 ePR Satisfaction and Efficiency, said it was "not user friendly system".
Another said "on many occasions ... we cannot see medications given in other departments, let alone give medications charted by doctors."
There were concerns about how timely fixes to the system were being done.
The new electronic system was brought in to replace combined paper and digital notes and was touted as allowing information to be in one place.
It was designed to improve safety for patients and around medication.
The Bendigo Health spokesperson said "the ePR program involves a combination of hardware and software components and like any major digital transformation initiative it entails significant change management".
"We acknowledge all major software implementation projects require enormous change management, time and continued support so any and all risks are appropriately managed and mitigated."
'It has helped me ... with efficiency': Not all negative
Not every Bendigo Health staff member was critical of the electronic patient record system.
One staff member said that "as someone who is tech savvy, it has helped me greatly with efficiency".
Another said that overall it was a "pretty good system once you are familiar with it. But it can be challenging for new or locum staff to pick up on".
Some had found the system user friendly and a timesaver, and were able to devote more time on patient care.
The Bendigo Health spokesperson said the core hospital clinical system was purpose built and successfully deployed across Australia and 26 other countries.
Other opportunities highlighted in the survey included reducing burnout and preventing staff turnover, enhancing medication administration and safety, educating clinicians so they feel comfortable navigating the ePR, and optimising system performance.
