❓ Ms. Mettam questions the delay in releasing the 'Your safety in our hands in hospital' report. The Minister responds, citing privacy concerns and a downward trend in dangerous events, stating the report will be released after feedback incorporation.
AnsweredQoN 213Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
YOUR SAFETY IN OUR
HANDS IN HOSPITAL REPORT —
RELEASE
213. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Your safety in our
hands in hospital 2021–22 annual report, which has not yet been
released.
(1) On what date did the minister
receive a copy of this report?
(2) On what date
were the minister's suggested changes or feedback given back to the
Department of Health?
(3) If this is
such a good report, full of good news, why has it still not been published; and
when will this report be published?
HANDS IN HOSPITAL REPORT —
RELEASE
213. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the Your safety in our
hands in hospital 2021–22 annual report, which has not yet been
released.
(1) On what date did the minister
receive a copy of this report?
(2) On what date
were the minister's suggested changes or feedback given back to the
Department of Health?
(3) If this is
such a good report, full of good news, why has it still not been published; and
when will this report be published?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) As
I suggested when I answered this exact same question last week, the Leader of
the Liberal Party can pop off the tinfoil hat and lose the conspiracy theories.
This report was received, as I outlined last week, by my office late last year
around November. Feedback was given by my office that there was a range of identifying case studies in there. As I said
before, when people through no fault of their own and no actions of
their own are thrust into the media spotlight if something occurs in a hospital,
it becomes identifiable. This report is largely for clinicians and hospitals to
go through to understand trends and to understand that when things go wrong, it
is always a learning opportunity. Therefore, it is important that we continue to allow clinicians to learn from those severity
assessment code 1 and sentinel events that happen throughout our system.
What the report does highlight is
that there is a trend downwards of dangerous events in our hospitals. What also
is missing in some of the Leader of the Liberal Party's narrative is
the sheer volume of episodes of care that
the public health system undertakes every year. Over one million episodes of
care are undertaken by our system every single year, and the public system
undertakes the most complex care. It takes patients that the private sector
will not or cannot accommodate. The public sector does an incredible job in
dealing with our most complex and our sickest community members. At times there
is risk and it is important that that risk is managed and reduced.
As I said, the overall thrust of the
report is that there is a trend downwards for those sentinel events. Feedback
was provided by my office, and my understanding from the department is that the
report will be uploaded when that feedback is incorporated. But that feedback
was provided last year.
I suggested when I answered this exact same question last week, the Leader of
the Liberal Party can pop off the tinfoil hat and lose the conspiracy theories.
This report was received, as I outlined last week, by my office late last year
around November. Feedback was given by my office that there was a range of identifying case studies in there. As I said
before, when people through no fault of their own and no actions of
their own are thrust into the media spotlight if something occurs in a hospital,
it becomes identifiable. This report is largely for clinicians and hospitals to
go through to understand trends and to understand that when things go wrong, it
is always a learning opportunity. Therefore, it is important that we continue to allow clinicians to learn from those severity
assessment code 1 and sentinel events that happen throughout our system.
What the report does highlight is
that there is a trend downwards of dangerous events in our hospitals. What also
is missing in some of the Leader of the Liberal Party's narrative is
the sheer volume of episodes of care that
the public health system undertakes every year. Over one million episodes of
care are undertaken by our system every single year, and the public system
undertakes the most complex care. It takes patients that the private sector
will not or cannot accommodate. The public sector does an incredible job in
dealing with our most complex and our sickest community members. At times there
is risk and it is important that that risk is managed and reduced.
As I said, the overall thrust of the
report is that there is a trend downwards for those sentinel events. Feedback
was provided by my office, and my understanding from the department is that the
report will be uploaded when that feedback is incorporated. But that feedback
was provided last year.
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