SA hospital records system failing: AMA

A new electronic records system being rolled out across South Australia's public hospitals is possibly not fit for purpose, the Australian Medical Association says.

The AMA says it sent a questionnaire to almost 250 staff, including doctors and nurses, asking for their views on the $422 million Enterprise Patient Administration System.

It says almost 40 per cent reported their opinion of EPAS was poor, 30 per cent believed patients were not clinically safer and 20 per cent found it responsible for adverse patient outcomes.

"The AMA has consistently supported the concept of electronic medical records," president William Tam said on Wednesday.

"Yet our members are telling us that EPAS has failed to meet their hopes and expectations and is contributing to errors.

"You might expect some teething problems but quite honestly, after four years we would expect most problems to be fixed."

But Health Minister Jack Snelling said the government believed those who responded to the AMA survey were not representative of the wider medical workforce.

Mr Snelling told state parliament the AMA were "serial whingers".