24 January 2008

Minister announces Special Commission of Inquiry into NSW health care

NSW Minister for Health, Reba Meagher, today announced she would ask the Governor to establish a Special Commission of Inquiry into the delivery of patient care within the NSW public health system.
Ms Meagher said the NSW Government moved swiftly to establish the Commission following a call by the Deputy NSW State Coroner for the Minister to “consider a full and open inquiry into the delivery of health services in NSW”.
The Coroner was handing down his findings into the death of Vanessa Anderson at Royal North Shore Hospital in November 2005.
“Today I have again apologised to the Anderson family and expressed my profound sympathy over Vanessa’s tragic death,” Ms Meagher said.
“It is clear that mistakes were made with regard to Vanessa’s care and her treatment at Royal North Shore Hospital in November 2005.
“When mistakes happen within our hospitals it is important that we learn from them by making improvements to the system to try to stop similar mistakes from occurring in the future.
“I have reassured Vanessa Anderson’s family that we have already made changes at Royal North Shore Hospital – and at hospitals across the state – to make the sort of improvements needed to ensure better patient safety.
“In handing down his findings this morning, the Coroner made no formal recommendations, but noted the work already done by Royal North Shore Hospital and the health system more broadly to make improvements.”
Ms Meagher said that over the past few years there have been a number of inquiries into individual instances of patient care and into individual hospitals and health services.
“Each of these inquiries has resulted in changes which have improved the way we deliver patient care,” Ms Meagher said.
“In handing down his findings today, the Coroner identified a number of systemic issues which contributed to Vanessa Anderson’s death.
“The Coroner made the point that the NSW health system is staffed by dedicated professionals but is labouring under increased demands and expectations from the general public.
“The establishment of this Special Commission of Inquiry provides an opportunity to look closely at the way we deliver health services now and to identify the changes needed to ensure better patient care.”
Terms of Reference for the Special Commission of Inquiry and the appointment of a Commissioner will be announced soon.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au