Patient Dies After Referral 'Forgotten' at Mildura Hospital

A patient who was not triaged in a timely manner at a Victorian hospital that relies on paper records has died, the state's shadow health minister says.

It is believed up to 150 patients at Mildura Base Public Hospital (MBPH) were left waiting for care for longer than a year after boxes of paper referrals were "forgotten" about.

Patient Death and Hospital Response

On Friday, Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier said she understood that one affected patient had since died.

"[These are] patients that have not been triaged, not been diagnosed, not been seen by specialists and haven't had the management and timely care that they deserve," she said.

MBPH discovered the fault via clinical governance and patient safety processes and reported the cases to Safer Care Victoria (SCV), in line with its obligations.

MBPH acting chief executive Matt Jukes declined to comment on the forgotten paper referrals, but said the hospital was "always looking at refining our service delivery and models of care".

He said the hospital was working with SCV and the Department of Health "to ensure that if there are any gaps within the services that we provide, that they are identified, they're reviewed".

Matthew Jukes said the hospital is working with Safer Care Victoria to review what happened with the paper documents.

Digitalisation of Patient Records

In 2023, MBPH and the state government committed to digitising 200,000 patient records over four years, with electronic medical records (EMRs) set to roll out in Mildura, Echuca and Swan Hill at a cost of $14 million.

Three years later, Mr Jukes said inpatient records had still not been digitised, and that the hospital needed more funding and time to complete the transition.

"From our perspective, we just work within the constraints of what we have available to us," he said.

In a statement, a Victorian government spokesperson said implementing electronic medical records was "a complex, multi-year transformation" and that the Loddon Mallee EMR program was still underway.

"The Victorian government is progressively rolling out electronic medical records and CareSync Exchange across Victoria's public health system to reduce reliance on paper-based processes and improve access to patient information," they said.

Criticism of Paper-Based System

A medical student at the hospital told a local program the paper system was "dangerous" and that patients were not getting the care they needed.

"We have a paper-based system, hybrid essentially, where doctors, nurses, allied health all scribble down notes," the medical student said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We will routinely go on ward rounds and a doctor will run their finger down the length of the paper and say, 'I can't read that. Oh well, next page.'"

"It is dangerous, I can't believe that in 2026 we have a paper-based system in Mildura."

The medical student said they understood why some residents were worried about visiting MBPH.

"It's not the staff's fault, [but] if I had something go wrong with me, I'd be jumping in the car and driving to Bendigo," they said.

Calls for Investigation

Law Partners senior managing solicitor in medical negligence Michael Passaro said the failures reported at MBPH were "deeply disturbing" and called for a 'thorough and transparent' investigation.

"An urgent referral is not just paperwork, it represents a patient waiting for potentially life-saving care," he said.

"No patient should suffer avoidable harm because their referral was left untriaged in a box."

The state government spokesperson said their thoughts were with the loved ones of the patients affected.

"When something goes wrong, health services must review what happened, be transparent about the findings and take action to reduce the risk of it happening again," they said.