Question Time

Chemotherapy Treatment Error

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is to the Minister for Health. What steps did the minister take following the chemotherapy underdosing bungle to ensure all reportable deaths are promptly referred to the Coroner for full investigation?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Minister for Health, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Health Industries) (14:18): Under the act, it is the medical practitioner's responsibility to ensure that any deaths that are notifiable are notified to the Coroner and also to provide an opinion as to the cause of death. My understanding is that the way the process works is that medical practitioners will sometimes liaise directly with the Coroner's office if they are unsure about whether or not a death should be referred to the Coroner to get advice.

Indeed, all our medical practitioners' obligations are very, very clear by the department, what their obligations are. There is a manual or handbook provided, which points out the steps and it makes very, very clear to medical practitioners what their responsibilities are under the Coroners Act. If there are any circumstances where a medical practitioner has not followed the appropriate processes, and not followed his or her obligations under the act, then that is obviously something that we would be very keen to investigate.

With regard to the chemotherapy issue, again, it would have been the responsibility of the medical practitioner who was treating the relevant patient who died to ensure that that was appropriately referred to the Coroner.