My letter in today's at the West Australian Newspaper refers to the case of Baby Amir and Health Policy in this state. The text is below:
10/07/2024
It is extremely disappointing to see the response from Joondalup Health Campus in regard to the case of Baby Amir (deceased) and his parents Suzan and Ali. The offer to do another clinical review is incredibly self-serving and tantamount to a snub to the parents.
At the time of the meeting for the presentation of the initial clinical findings we asked the question of the JHC Staff as to whether they were declaring this a “SAC 1 Incident”. Their categoric response was that a SAC 1 was exactly the same as the Clinical Review.
This is a highly contentious point. Our issue is not with the clinical reason for Amir’s death but more to determine if the procedures that were followed (or not followed) could have resulted in his death. And according to the department of health guidelines, SAC 1 incidents are “clinical incidents that have or could have (near miss) caused serious harm or death that is attributable to health care provision (or lack thereof) rather than the patient’s underlying condition or illness.”
This is exactly what we wish to determine – was it the provision or the lack thereof of health services that could have resulted in his death. The clinical investigation did not interview one single person who was on the ward that day. It only dealt with the clinical reasons for the child’s death.
There were a number of failures of procedure that happened on that day and into the evening. Now the Hospital is of the view that these failures aren’t important enough to be reconsidered. And the family is not to be invited to give any evidence to the clinical specialist who is reexamining the case. This is arrogance in the extreme.
It is now imperative that the Minister steps in and mandates the declaration of a SAC 1 incident and have a thorough review of what happened to Baby Amir. Additionally it is incumbent on Premier Cook to reconsider the terms of the next 15 year management contract that he has already signed with Ramsay’s for the JHC.
Suresh Rajan
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