Hospital Management Investigation

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): Can the minister outline to the house whether he is now satisfied that there are no further breaches because there has been a comprehensive audit or whether it was simply a random audit and there could be many thousands of other unauthorised access opportunities taking place on a regular basis?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:17): I am very confident, number one, because I have confidence that the overwhelming majority of staff in SA Health do the right thing. I know SA Health staff don't help themselves to the storage cabinet. I know SA Health staff do the right thing overwhelmingly—not just the majority, but almost all of them. There is a tiny minority who, on occasions, do the wrong thing, and that is a fact of any large organisation consisting of thousands of people, as much as I wish it wouldn't be.

What I can say is, the good thing about electronic health records is that, when it does happen, we are able to detect it in a way we never could with paper records, because the simple fact is that, with paper records, anyone could access them. There would be no log of that person having access to that record; there would be no way that we would know they had done it. But with an electronic health record, we are able to monitor access.

We do know when a person has looked at that record, and we are able to question them about why they looked at that record if we consider it was inappropriate and take action in a way that would be basically close to impossible with regard to paper records. I can say that I am very pleased that, while it is very regrettable that this has happened and while I'm very angry that these staff have chosen to do this, nonetheless, it gives one confidence that on the few occasions when it does happen, it is able to be detected in a way it never would have been with paper medical records.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned for the second and final time. I can hear him.

Mr Whetstone: Am I hitting a nerve?

The SPEAKER: Sorry?

Mr Whetstone: Am I hitting a nerve, sir?

The SPEAKER: Leader.