Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Safer Care Victoria

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:21): Last week the government released the 2021–22 Sentinel Events Annual Report. It is a scant report. It does not have anything in it – just a bit of government waffle: ‘What is a sentinel event?’ – half a page and half a blank page. There are other blank pages around acknowledgement of country and lived experience. But it is not actually talking about the issue at hand: 240 sentinel events. These are very serious issues that have happened to Victorians and a tragedy for many, many patients and their families.

What we do not know is the level and depth of what has occurred in our health services. Back in 2007 Daniel Andrews, who was then the health minister, stated that:

It is vital that our services report on these events, so that we can learn from them and endeavour to reduce such tragedies in the future.

At that time there were hospital horrors: deaths from error, 38, including 11 suicides; three medication errors; procedures on wrong person, body part, 20; instrument left inside patient post surgery, eight; and other catastrophic events, 37. That is actually more information than we have got 16 years later.

It is just a joke. This government lacks transparency and lacks accountability for the failures that are occurring within the system. They have continued to occur. There are 38 children impacted here, and the government will not even tell us how many have died, let alone how many other Victorians have died because of the ongoing failures.