❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Health about parental concerns being ignored after the Aishwarya Aswath case. The Minister defends the government's actions and training programs, rejecting the assertion that healthcare workers dismiss parental concerns.
AnsweredQoN 372Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — AISHWARYA ASWATH — INDEPENDENT
INQUIRY REPORT
372. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to recommendation 4 of the
independent inquiry into the death of Aishwarya Aswath, which highlighted —
The importance of the parent's
extraordinary role in the recognition of deterioration � be reinforced and
embedded throughout all clinical and administrative protocols and training
curricula.
Can the minister explain why, three
years after this report highlighted the clinical importance of not dismissing parental concerns, another family has tragically
lost a child, complaining that their pleas for help to GPs and hospital staff were ignored?
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — AISHWARYA ASWATH — INDEPENDENT
INQUIRY REPORT
372. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to recommendation 4 of the
independent inquiry into the death of Aishwarya Aswath, which highlighted —
The importance of the parent's
extraordinary role in the recognition of deterioration � be reinforced and
embedded throughout all clinical and administrative protocols and training
curricula.
Can the minister explain why, three
years after this report highlighted the clinical importance of not dismissing parental concerns, another family has tragically
lost a child, complaining that their pleas for help to GPs and hospital staff were ignored?
AnswerView source ↗
The
Leader of the Liberal Party well knows that the state government has no
regulatory oversight of general practice and primary care. The
government has oversight and responsibility for the state system, and, of
course, we expect parental concerns to always be taken into consideration. As I
have said before, parents know their children best, and that is why, across the system, there has been significant training,
including mandatory training on the use of the PARROT chart for
healthcare staff who interact with paediatric patients and their families. We
have also introduced Aishwarya's CARE Call, which is an opportunity for
an avenue for parents or any caregiver to escalate concerns if they are
concerned that the care pathway is not appropriate or their concerns are not
being taken into consideration. My understanding is that is in operation at
Joondalup Health Campus. I have seen it all over the country. I have seen it at Roebourne Hospital. That is something that
the system has rolled out consistently and across the state. Mandatory
training has also occurred on the PARROT chart, which is the Paediatric Acute
Recognition and Response Observation Tool
chart. That was also rolled out at Joondalup Health Campus. They also
implemented a waiting room nurse as part of some of the recommendations
that were actually identified at Perth Children's Hospital but have
been taken on across the system.
Staff are also undertaking mandatory
cultural awareness training, which is incredibly important, given our
increasingly multicultural community, to understand the signals of distress and
understand that people in some cultures have a view of healthcare workers as
being in positions of authority and that one person's way of signalling
distress and concern may not be considered appropriate in someone else's
culture. The system has implemented significant changes in the way it addresses
concerns from parents and children.
I reject the member's
assertion that healthcare workers dismiss parents' concerns. I reject
the assertion that they completely dismiss parents' concerns. There is
an investigation underway in this particular instance. The family deserves a full
and fair investigation; the healthcare workers involved deserve a full and fair
investigation. It would not be useful to that investigation for me to provide a
running commentary on reports and accusations that are around. I respect the
right for everyone involved to have a fair investigation, and I call on the
Leader of the Liberal Party to do the same.
Leader of the Liberal Party well knows that the state government has no
regulatory oversight of general practice and primary care. The
government has oversight and responsibility for the state system, and, of
course, we expect parental concerns to always be taken into consideration. As I
have said before, parents know their children best, and that is why, across the system, there has been significant training,
including mandatory training on the use of the PARROT chart for
healthcare staff who interact with paediatric patients and their families. We
have also introduced Aishwarya's CARE Call, which is an opportunity for
an avenue for parents or any caregiver to escalate concerns if they are
concerned that the care pathway is not appropriate or their concerns are not
being taken into consideration. My understanding is that is in operation at
Joondalup Health Campus. I have seen it all over the country. I have seen it at Roebourne Hospital. That is something that
the system has rolled out consistently and across the state. Mandatory
training has also occurred on the PARROT chart, which is the Paediatric Acute
Recognition and Response Observation Tool
chart. That was also rolled out at Joondalup Health Campus. They also
implemented a waiting room nurse as part of some of the recommendations
that were actually identified at Perth Children's Hospital but have
been taken on across the system.
Staff are also undertaking mandatory
cultural awareness training, which is incredibly important, given our
increasingly multicultural community, to understand the signals of distress and
understand that people in some cultures have a view of healthcare workers as
being in positions of authority and that one person's way of signalling
distress and concern may not be considered appropriate in someone else's
culture. The system has implemented significant changes in the way it addresses
concerns from parents and children.
I reject the member's
assertion that healthcare workers dismiss parents' concerns. I reject
the assertion that they completely dismiss parents' concerns. There is
an investigation underway in this particular instance. The family deserves a full
and fair investigation; the healthcare workers involved deserve a full and fair
investigation. It would not be useful to that investigation for me to provide a
running commentary on reports and accusations that are around. I respect the
right for everyone involved to have a fair investigation, and I call on the
Leader of the Liberal Party to do the same.
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