Aged-Care CCTV

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:13): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about CCTV in aged-care facilities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Yesterday, in this chamber, the government was asked a series of questions about the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of 83-year-old Jeffrey Beaton, who was found alive on Sunday night eight days after disappearing from an Eyre Peninsula aged-care facility only to die the following day from his injuries.

Firstly, like everyone else in this place I'm sure, I extend our sincerest condolences to Mr Beaton's family on the tragic death of their husband, father and grandfather. While SA Health continues to refuse to explain how Mr Beaton went missing while in its care, the minister yesterday revealed that Mr Beaton absconded from the same facility in Cleve twice in the two days leading up to his final tragic attempt, luckily being found a short time later in the town.

Mr Beaton's disappearances follow a similar incident at the trouble-plagued Kindred Living aged-care facility in Whyalla in March this year, when a 79-year-old dementia resident escaped from the facility and was found after a large-scale search 3½ days later in an unoccupied house a few streets from the nursing home. My question to the minister is:

1. How was Mr Beaton able to leave the aged-care facility three times in two days without being noticed by staff and/or raising any alarm bells?

2. Was Mr Beaton being accommodated in a secure part of the facility, given his medical condition?

3. Why wasn't security around Mr Beaton upgraded following his two prior successful attempts to leave the facility?

4. How many other incidents have occurred where patients living in a stated-owned aged-care facility have escaped or gone AWOL for more than 12 or 24 hours over the past five years?

5. Can the minister update us on how the CCTV trial is currently going?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:16): I thank the honourable member for his question. A number of the issues he raises are certainly issues that the government and the community look forward to being addressed. I referred yesterday to the fact that there will be reviews, and I just want to highlight to the house that the treating GP from Mid Eyre Medical notified the Coroner on 12 October of the death of Mr Beaton at the request of the facility's executive officer, the director of nursing. SAPOL had already notified the Coroner at the time of the resident's death.

The Eyre and Far North Local Health Network initially advised the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission of the incident via a serious incident response scheme report on Tuesday 5 October and provided further updates after the resident was found, and on Tuesday 12 October after he passed away. I have also been advised that as well as the two departures from the facility on 1 and 2 October there was also one previous occasion in August where Mr Beaton left the facility and was found quickly afterwards. As I said, the government is looking forward to both the internal reviews and any reviews that might be undertaken by the Coroner and the commission.

In terms of technology, the honourable member is correct that CCTV could have been of assistance. Obviously, in this case, the issue would be not so much what happened inside the facility but rather the security of the perimeters. The technology may not be CCTV. It may well be other sorts of sensors such as ribbon alerts, I think they call them. I certainly agree that technology in many ways can help us enhance the security and safety of aged-care facilities, and the government is very keen to pursue that.

In terms of an area of technology that the government is using in a completely different context—I am referring to the home quarantine app—one wonders whether that technology may well be useful for people who tend to wander, not only in terms of being able to locate them after they have left the premises but, if you like, using perimeter alerts. My understanding is that these devices can be set such that if a person leaves a designated area somebody is identified—for that matter whether it is part of the care staff or members of their family.

The honourable member asked me questions in relation to details of the number of people over a significant period of time and across a range of facilities. I am sure that he wasn't expecting me to have that data with me, but I am certainly happy to take that aspect of his question on notice.

The PRESIDENT: Before calling on statements on matters of interest, I indicate that today we have had the lowest number of primary and supplementary questions in a number of months. I think it is in the interests of all members of this chamber that this level of questions is not continued.