Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Queensland Health has a transparent process to report on sentinel events in public hospitals.
Minister D’Ath said sentinel event data is provided by all the States and Territories to the Commonwealth, which reports this annually in its Report on Government Services (RoGS).
“Queensland Health notifies the Commonwealth of adverse outcomes, including sentinel events, in public hospitals just like all the other States and Territories,” she said. “I’m advised that the case raised today in State Parliament didn’t result in death. “However as with all such sentinel events, a clinical review is undertaken by Queensland Health to identify areas for improvement.
“The annual Report of Government Services shows sentinel events occur across a range of jurisdictions. “According to RoGS, there were 57 sentinel events in Australia in 2019, including 24 in Victoria, 9 in New South Wales and 8 in Queensland.
“There were a series of sentinel events in Queensland when the LNP was in office and these were reported in ROGS.
“In 2013-14 when the Newman government was in power there were 12 sentinel events in Queensland public hospitals, including two procedures involving the wrong patient or body part resulting in death or major permanent loss of function.” **
