❓ Mr. Zempilas asks about Severity Assessment Code (SAC) investigations and reporting within WA hospitals. The Minister responds that the information is publicly available in HSP annual reports and that the Department is moving to interactive webpages for safety and quality data reporting, expected in mid-2026.
AnsweredQoN 2060Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Severity Assessment Code (SAC) investigations undertaken by the Department of Health and, for each hospital within each Health Service Provider, for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 financial years, I ask:(a) For each SAC category - SAC 1, SAC 2 and SAC 3 - please advise:(i) the number of confirmed incidents by category;(ii) how many investigations were commenced;(iii) how many investigations were completed;(iv) of those completed, how many were completed within the recommended timeframes;(v) the total number of confirmed incidents across the three categories; and(vi) the total number of complaints;(b) For SAC1 incidents, please advise:(i) the total number of confirmed SAC1 incidents;(ii) the number of SAC1 patient outcomes of death; and(iii) the number of sentinel events with patient outcomes of serious harm or death; and(c) I further refer to the Department of Health publication Your Safety in Our Hands in Hospital, and I ask:(i) why has the Department not published a report since 2023; and(ii) when does the Department expect to release the 2024 and 2025 reports?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 May 2026
Responded by
Minister for Health; Mental Health
Response time
6 days
(a)-(c)
The information sought by the Member in relation to SAC 1 reviews and sentinel events is publicly available, including in Health Service Provider (HSP) annual reports tabled in Parliament. Disaggregating the requested information by each hospital within each HSP would require considerable resources, diverting staff usually dedicated to patient safety away from their normal duties.
Clinical incident management and reporting assists hospitals and clinicians to identify opportunities for improvement in the delivery of care. Continual improvement in relation to patient safety relies on a culture where organisational systems are reviewed and improved to support staff to deliver high quality patient care. It is important that health staff work in a culture where they feel safe and supported to report incidents where they occur.
The Department of Health has reviewed its approach to safety and quality reporting and determined that publishing data through interactive webpages would provide greater value to the public, clinicians, and the Department, than traditional report formats.
The Department of Health is finalising contemporary and user-friendly webpages to report safety and quality data, including consumer testing to support clarity and ease of interpretation. This approach is more in line with other Australian jurisdictions. Publication of the new webpages is expected in mid-2026.
The information sought by the Member in relation to SAC 1 reviews and sentinel events is publicly available, including in Health Service Provider (HSP) annual reports tabled in Parliament. Disaggregating the requested information by each hospital within each HSP would require considerable resources, diverting staff usually dedicated to patient safety away from their normal duties.
Clinical incident management and reporting assists hospitals and clinicians to identify opportunities for improvement in the delivery of care. Continual improvement in relation to patient safety relies on a culture where organisational systems are reviewed and improved to support staff to deliver high quality patient care. It is important that health staff work in a culture where they feel safe and supported to report incidents where they occur.
The Department of Health has reviewed its approach to safety and quality reporting and determined that publishing data through interactive webpages would provide greater value to the public, clinicians, and the Department, than traditional report formats.
The Department of Health is finalising contemporary and user-friendly webpages to report safety and quality data, including consumer testing to support clarity and ease of interpretation. This approach is more in line with other Australian jurisdictions. Publication of the new webpages is expected in mid-2026.
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