Women's and Children's Health Network Cochlear Implant Program

Mrs HURN (Schubert) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What does the minister say to Natalie? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mrs HURN: Natalie has two children, Angus and Henry, with cochlear implants from the Women's and Children's Hospital, which were not giving them access to sound. Natalie said, and I quote, 'As a mum, I was gutted and felt that we had been let down by those we trusted.'

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:55): To Natalie I say this publicly, but I also said this to her privately earlier in the week when I rang her: I think we are all devastated in terms of the impact upon her family of this issue which has been running for a number of years at the Women's and Children's Hospital. I'm not going to politicise this, but this is a long-running issue that we need to properly get to the bottom of how it was able to occur over at least the last five years and make sure that we put in place processes to ensure that it doesn't happen again. I'm very happy to meet with any of the families who are involved and talk about how we can help them.

Obviously we have already announced, as per my ministerial statement yesterday, that we will be putting in place arrangements not only for an external review from an independent expert of the program generally but also for those people who have been identified as having had undermapping take place to have independent external interstate experts come and look at their situation, assess their implants and what other steps could be taken in relation to those children.

We, as a government, absolutely are committed to making sure that we put in place systems so that this doesn't happen again. To those families, I'm very happy to talk to them about what we can do in terms of making sure that they have the best possible supports for this awful news that they have received.