A WA parliamentary question inquires about the use of RFID and biometric technology on public patients within WA Health facilities. The response indicates that WA Health does not use RFID chips or biometric technology for patient identification.

AnsweredQoN 5158Legislative Assembly
Asked
15 March 2016
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to WA Health and ask about the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and biometric technology and ask: (a) have any public patients in Western Australia had RFID chips or tags surgically implanted, and/or inserted inside them, if so, how many; (b) do any WA Health hospitals or WA Health funded facilities (eg. transition care beds, mental health beds) use RFID chip tags on patient the identification bracelets, if so which ones; (c) if so, what information is contained on the RFID chip and who is authorized to access it; (d) do any of the RFID chips contain a GPS tracking; (e) is informed written consent obtained from all public patients with RFID chip bracelets or tags; (f) under what (if any) circumstances are RFID chip tags used on patient braclet/tags; (g) does WA Health use any biometric technology to identify patients; and (h) are there any existing WA Health policies or guidelines regarding the use of this technology, if so can you please provide copy of the guidelines?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
27 April 2016
Responded by
Minister for Health
Response time
43 days
Answer as at 15 March 2016:
(a) No.
(b) No. Patient wristbands used in WA Health do not utilise RFID technology.
(c)-(f) Not applicable.
(g) No. Wristbands containing patient information are the standard method of identifying patients in WA Health.
(h) No. A copy of current WA Health Patient Identification Policy (February 2014) is attached for information

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