Dead People Booked for Surgeries in NT Public Hospitals

Topic: Health Administration

Mon 3 Aug 2026 at 2:52pm

Mon 3 Aug 2026 at 3:26pm

An inquiry was started to look into Acacia's problems last year.

In short:

Operations are being booked for dead people in NT public hospitals, says the Australian Medical Association.

The AMA says these bookings are one of many failures of the $335 million Acacia IT system.

What's next?

The AMA wants Acacia to stop handling clinical information.

Dead people are being booked for operations in NT public hospitals due to Acacia's failures.

The AMA has revealed this issue in its submission to a parliamentary inquiry.

The AMA's submission also says some doctors are afraid to talk about Acacia's problems.

Surgical services are the most affected by Acacia's failures.

Acacia was stopped from use at Royal Darwin Hospital's emergency department.

AMA NT branch president John Zorbas talked to the ABC about the issue.

He said a laborious audit process was started to fix the problem.

He also said that Acacia was supposed to replace old systems but hasn't.

This means old systems are still being used.

It's like having many apps open to do one thing.

Dr Zorbas said Acacia is creating other errors in surgical services.

John Zorbas says money has been wasted on Acacia.

Inquiry hampered by doctors' fears

The Acacia project was announced in 2016 to integrate patient record systems.

But it has blown its budget and its rollout is not complete.

The AMA's submission said the inquiry was hampered by doctors' fears.

Doctors do not have faith in NT Health to protect them.

This is a concern for the inquiry.

It can harm patients in the NT.

Some senior clinicians could provide more information.

Acacia was reintroduced into RDH in November 2025.

The AMA wants Acacia to be used only for hospital logistics.

This would mean Acacia would not handle clinical information.

Dr Zorbas said the idea of one system for all domains was too big.

The NT Health Department has been contacted for comment.

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