Grievance Debate

Hospital Management Investigation

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:05): There is one thing for sure: as the scandalous saga of the invasion of privacy of patient records unfolds, Mr Brad Crouch, the medical reporter of The Advertiser, knows more about what is happening in the Department for Health than the Minister for Health. In the last while, we have received notice today of the scandalous invasion of the clinicians who have accessed the private records of patients, we have heard of the hospital management tampering with patient records, and we have had the disgraceful circumstances of chemotherapy patients receiving the wrong treatment as a result of corrupt patient records.

The reality is that these circumstances expose the not just unhealthy but unacceptable standards which the public can expect when they walk through the door to receive treatment from government agencies. Every man, woman and child in this state deserves to know that, when they walk through the doors of a clinic, a hospital or a health service provider under the regulation or operation of this state, they should be entitled to have their information respected.

Whether they are involved in litigation, whether the disclosure of information might prejudice their employment, whether it might shatter a relationship, whether it might taint the communication between members of a family, all of the things that are in those patient records are sacred and they are entitled to be protected. So important is that that the government, under a cabinet instruction, requires there to be a policy for the protection of public information on records.

There is a list of information privacy principles which every agency, every public servant, is required to adhere to, with some exceptions. The Motor Accident Commission, ICAC and a couple of others are not required to be bound by those, but everyone else is. This is a cabinet circular. This is an obligation that people have, already set out, issued by the edict of this government, that they must comply with.

Furthermore, we find today that the minister comes in here and says, 'There have been another eight examples. I can't tell you when I knew about it. I can't tell you anything about it. I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know anything about it.' This is the head in the sand approach, yet again, the Sergeant Schultz copying minister after minister who just does not want to know.

This is vital for the people of South Australia and every man, woman and child is entitled to know that the information that is in those records is kept secret and, when there is a breach, we do not have some pathetic little ministerial statement saying, 'There has been some inappropriate access to patient records.'

No, what we expect, what South Australians expect, is a minister to come in here and say, 'This was wrong. I have identified the problem. I have dealt with those who have been involved in it. I confess to you that there are another eight who have been found out.' 'Two of them have been sacked,' he says, 'but I don't know anything about the detail of those. I don't know how many times they have offended.'

What does he know about the other six? Where are they? Are they still in charge of patient records? We do not know anything about this. Why? Because not only does the minister not know, we have had not one scintilla of information from him today to say, 'I have referred that matter to the Privacy Committee'—the Privacy Committee of South Australia which is here to advise the government on the protection of information and the correct information in public records. No, we don't know. Do we have any information from the Attorney that he has looked into it? No. Do we have any information from the Premier or reassurance from him that it is not going to happen again? No.

We have this pathetic contribution from the Minister for Health who has been caught out failing to protect the records and interests of patients time after time after time. I do not know how anyone in South Australia can possibly understand how the patients feel who had the chemotherapy administered to them as a result of inaccurate recordkeeping.

That is bad enough, but today we find exposed and finally admitted to after it has been on the front page of the paper this disgraceful history of failure on the part of the department to not only keep those records sacred and safe but furthermore the failure to even act on them and to provide any disclosure. What pathetic excuse would they have for not coming in and telling us about the other eight that have been identified? None. Yet again people have been let down in South Australia.

Time expired.