QLD Health to decentralise SAP payroll by September

Queensland Health will return to a local payroll model by September 2010, as it rushes to fix a bungled shared services implementation that resulted in more than 35,000 payroll anomalies.

While no changes will be made to the SAP software involved in the failed implementation, payroll data will go back to being processed at individual hubs that are directly linked to local hospitals.

Meanwhile, the software system -- which combines WorkBrain rostering software and the SAP application -- is being reviewed against other common systems by Ernst and Young.

Queensland Health also has employed additional staff and established two new payroll hubs at Mackay and the Gold Coast in its move to the local model, which is led by its deputy director-general Michael Walsh.

The State Government today announced that it has doubled the size of its call centre and is rolling out local payroll support arrangements at "major hospitals right across the state".

"We are pulling out all stops to provide more support and more information for staff," Queensland's deputy premier and health minister Paul Lucas said today.

"Staff in the expanded call centre will have access to the payroll system to expand the level of assistance they can provide to staff."

Highlighting the importance of local information and decision making in payroll processes, Lucas said the centralised payroll system will be "removed from the day to day operations of our hospitals".

Whole-of-government IT provider CorpTech is also being reviewed with the aim of reducing bureaucracy, localising service provision and ensuring clearer lines of responsibility at executive level.