❓ Opposition MP Mettam questions the Minister for Health regarding a child's death at Perth Children's Hospital, focusing on communication failures with the family. The Minister strongly rebukes the question as inappropriate and politicising a tragedy.
AnsweredQoN 821Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — SEVERITY
ASSESSMENT CODE 1 EVENTS
821. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Child and Adolescent
Health Service annual report that highlights that Perth Children's Hospital
has reviewed, or is still reviewing, 12 SAC-1 incidents, five of which have
resulted in death, and another four in serious harm, and reports that a three-year-old
girl was given unprescribed medication before death after a flu diagnosis.
(1) How can the
minister justify the parents discovering this information through the release
of the coroner's preliminary report
and the note on her medical files that stated that her parents were never
notified of the error?
Point of Order
Dr A.D. BUTI : I refer to standing
order 77, which states —
(1) Questions should not contain —
(a) preambles,
opinions, statements of facts or names of persons unless they are necessary to
render the question intelligible, extracts from newspapers or books, or
quotations; or
(b) argument, allegations, inference,
imputation �
The SPEAKER : The Minister
for Education is obviously quite right in quoting the standing order. A little
latitude is often given. The member is
clearly pushing the envelope because there is way too much information and
imputation in her question. I will allow you to just repeat question one
and question two without any preamble.
Questions without Notice Resumed
(1) How can the minister justify the parents discovering this information
through the release of the coroner's preliminary report and a note on
her medical files that stated her parents were never notified of the error?
(2) Can the minister confirm a lack of adequate—that is part 2 —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
I will determine whether the questions stand or not. I do not appreciate anyone
interrupting.
Ms L. METTAM : Can the
minister confirm whether the lack of adequate resourcing at Perth Children's
Hospital contributed to this tragic outcome?
ASSESSMENT CODE 1 EVENTS
821. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Child and Adolescent
Health Service annual report that highlights that Perth Children's Hospital
has reviewed, or is still reviewing, 12 SAC-1 incidents, five of which have
resulted in death, and another four in serious harm, and reports that a three-year-old
girl was given unprescribed medication before death after a flu diagnosis.
(1) How can the
minister justify the parents discovering this information through the release
of the coroner's preliminary report
and the note on her medical files that stated that her parents were never
notified of the error?
Point of Order
Dr A.D. BUTI : I refer to standing
order 77, which states —
(1) Questions should not contain —
(a) preambles,
opinions, statements of facts or names of persons unless they are necessary to
render the question intelligible, extracts from newspapers or books, or
quotations; or
(b) argument, allegations, inference,
imputation �
The SPEAKER : The Minister
for Education is obviously quite right in quoting the standing order. A little
latitude is often given. The member is
clearly pushing the envelope because there is way too much information and
imputation in her question. I will allow you to just repeat question one
and question two without any preamble.
Questions without Notice Resumed
(1) How can the minister justify the parents discovering this information
through the release of the coroner's preliminary report and a note on
her medical files that stated her parents were never notified of the error?
(2) Can the minister confirm a lack of adequate—that is part 2 —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
I will determine whether the questions stand or not. I do not appreciate anyone
interrupting.
Ms L. METTAM : Can the
minister confirm whether the lack of adequate resourcing at Perth Children's
Hospital contributed to this tragic outcome?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
Leader of the Liberal Party has plumbed some serious depths, and this is a new
low. This terrible circumstance is not fodder for question time. It is not
fodder for question time! If the member has —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Ms A. SANDERSON : There are
three current investigations underway across three different sites—a
private site, the public site and the ambulance site. A coroner's
investigation is underway. There have been no formal findings from the coroner.
I have not been notified of formal findings from the coroner. I have not been
authorised to get information from the coroner. CAHS has not been authorised to
get information from the coroner. This is not appropriate question time fodder.
This is purely seeking to politicise a terrible event.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Ms A. SANDERSON : It is a grubby
attempt by the Leader of the Opposition. Let us allow all those investigations
to be completed—the coroner and the SAC-1s across the three sites—and
allow the family to understand the results of those investigations before the
Leader of the Liberal Party seeks to gain some kind of political advantage out
of the most appalling circumstances.
Several members interjected.
Leader of the Liberal Party has plumbed some serious depths, and this is a new
low. This terrible circumstance is not fodder for question time. It is not
fodder for question time! If the member has —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Ms A. SANDERSON : There are
three current investigations underway across three different sites—a
private site, the public site and the ambulance site. A coroner's
investigation is underway. There have been no formal findings from the coroner.
I have not been notified of formal findings from the coroner. I have not been
authorised to get information from the coroner. CAHS has not been authorised to
get information from the coroner. This is not appropriate question time fodder.
This is purely seeking to politicise a terrible event.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please.
Ms A. SANDERSON : It is a grubby
attempt by the Leader of the Opposition. Let us allow all those investigations
to be completed—the coroner and the SAC-1s across the three sites—and
allow the family to understand the results of those investigations before the
Leader of the Liberal Party seeks to gain some kind of political advantage out
of the most appalling circumstances.
Several members interjected.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.