The Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA) is an expert committee appointed by the Minister for Health under Section 20 of the NSW Health Administration Act 1982.
Established in 1960, the SCIDUA is the longest serving committee of its kind in the world, and has contributed to the impressive reduction in mortality attributable to anaesthesia in Australia.
Since its inception, SCIDUA has received notification of more than 10,000 deaths. In the overwhelming majority of these cases (approximately 95%), investigations reveal that the death was not in any way attributable to the anaesthesia.
The SCIDUA Committee
The Committee is known as the Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia (SCIDUA) and is an expert committee appointed by the Minister for Health. Its Terms of Reference PDF ~12kb are to subject all deaths occurring while under, as a result of, or within 24 hours after the administration of anaesthesia to peer review so as to identify any areas of clinical management where alternative methods could have led to a more favourable result.
The Committee's documents are privileged from subpoena under Section 23 of the NSW Health Administration Act 1982 DOC ~34kb. Confidentiality of all communications between the reporting anaesthetist and the Committee is paramount
"In other words, they investigate deaths under anaesthesia, get the story from the anaethesist involved, BUT THEY ARE PRIVILEGED FROM SUBPOENA? WHY? Can anyone answer this question. I have one very strong possibility - to prevent LAWSUITS. "
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
NSW PUBLIC HOSPITALS WORST FIGURES FOR MEDICAL ERROR IN AUSTRALIA
NSW: Public Hospitals in NSW have the worst figures for medical error in the country
New Productivity Commission figures on ''sentinel events'' - severely harmful incidents that occur due to a failure of hospital systems - showed 59 cases in NSW, compared with 28 in Victoria, the next worst-performing state, and 147 nationwide.
Even accounting for NSW having the largest population and the largest number of hospital admissions, the figures still show the state performing worse than the rest of the country.
The data showed:
18 NSW procedures involving the wrong patient or body part (29 total, nationally);
19 NSW cases of medical instruments being left in patients after surgery (37 total, nationally);
medication errors in NSW killing 17 patients (29 total, nationally).
New Productivity Commission figures on ''sentinel events'' - severely harmful incidents that occur due to a failure of hospital systems - showed 59 cases in NSW, compared with 28 in Victoria, the next worst-performing state, and 147 nationwide.
Even accounting for NSW having the largest population and the largest number of hospital admissions, the figures still show the state performing worse than the rest of the country.
The data showed:
18 NSW procedures involving the wrong patient or body part (29 total, nationally);
19 NSW cases of medical instruments being left in patients after surgery (37 total, nationally);
medication errors in NSW killing 17 patients (29 total, nationally).
Palliative Care Patient Deaths
Coroner re-sends Tocumwal hospital deaths to DPP
By court reporter Jamelle Wells
The New South Wales coroner has made a number of recommendations after hearing more evidence about the deaths of two patients in Tocumwal Hospital on the New South Wales-Victorian border.
The inquest into the deaths of palliative care patients Ralf Grenfell in 2005 and Bob Cooling in 2007 was adjourned in March last year when Coroner Mary Jerram referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The DPP decided at the time to take no action.
The inquest heard that before they died, Dr Balaji Rao gave both men the muscle relaxant Atracurium, which stops a patient from breathing.
The drug is normally only used as an anaesthetic in conjunction with breathing machines.
The coroner also heard that since 2007, the Greater Southern Area Health Service has changed its drug administration and security and increased its palliative care training.
After the inquest resumed in Sydney on Tuesday to consider additional evidence from hospital staff, the coroner again referred the matter to the DPP.
Ms Jerram also recommended the Department of Health:
Issue a health safety notice warning all medical practitioners and nursing personnel of the potential negative effects of neuro-muscular blocking agents and that those agents should not be used without appropriate ventilator support.
That the department take steps to promote services and advice available from clinical nurse consultants and clinical nurse specialists in palliative care and pain relief. Those steps should include the monitoring, on an annual basis, of the use of those services throughout the state in non-metropolitan hospitals which rely on general practitioners for the provision of medical services.
That the department undertake a review, in conjunction with the NSW Nurses Association and other industry participant groups, of the support processes for whistleblower staff.
That the department reviews its education and training programs for health professionals and support staff with a view to ensuring there is a significant emphasis and focus on:
their role as advocates for clients of the health system;
the role of each person when a complaint has been made.
ABC.net.au
By court reporter Jamelle Wells
The New South Wales coroner has made a number of recommendations after hearing more evidence about the deaths of two patients in Tocumwal Hospital on the New South Wales-Victorian border.
The inquest into the deaths of palliative care patients Ralf Grenfell in 2005 and Bob Cooling in 2007 was adjourned in March last year when Coroner Mary Jerram referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The DPP decided at the time to take no action.
The inquest heard that before they died, Dr Balaji Rao gave both men the muscle relaxant Atracurium, which stops a patient from breathing.
The drug is normally only used as an anaesthetic in conjunction with breathing machines.
The coroner also heard that since 2007, the Greater Southern Area Health Service has changed its drug administration and security and increased its palliative care training.
After the inquest resumed in Sydney on Tuesday to consider additional evidence from hospital staff, the coroner again referred the matter to the DPP.
Ms Jerram also recommended the Department of Health:
Issue a health safety notice warning all medical practitioners and nursing personnel of the potential negative effects of neuro-muscular blocking agents and that those agents should not be used without appropriate ventilator support.
That the department take steps to promote services and advice available from clinical nurse consultants and clinical nurse specialists in palliative care and pain relief. Those steps should include the monitoring, on an annual basis, of the use of those services throughout the state in non-metropolitan hospitals which rely on general practitioners for the provision of medical services.
That the department undertake a review, in conjunction with the NSW Nurses Association and other industry participant groups, of the support processes for whistleblower staff.
That the department reviews its education and training programs for health professionals and support staff with a view to ensuring there is a significant emphasis and focus on:
their role as advocates for clients of the health system;
the role of each person when a complaint has been made.
ABC.net.au
Sunday, September 12, 2010
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE IN AUSTRALIA WHAT EVERY PATIENT SHOULD KNOW
From the medneg.com.au website. Some interesting facts:-
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
Australia has the highest rate of medical error in the world according to the World Health Organisation :-
18,000 people may die every year in hospitals through preventable medical negligence in Australia
50,000 people suffer from permanent injury annually as a result of medical negligence in Australia.
80,000 Australian patients per year are hospitalised due to medication errors.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
Australia has the highest rate of medical error in the world according to the World Health Organisation :-
18,000 people may die every year in hospitals through preventable medical negligence in Australia
50,000 people suffer from permanent injury annually as a result of medical negligence in Australia.
80,000 Australian patients per year are hospitalised due to medication errors.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Medical Negligence in Australia
I ask you all to sign this petition to make medical professionals guilty of medical negligence to be made criminally responsible for acts of negligence performed in public hospitals in Australia.
The Australian Govt has conveniently prevented Doctors etc from being held criminally responsible for negligent acts in their course of duty, in order to prevent lawsuits left and right in this country. In my opinion this is unfair, in other words, a doctor can in effect maim, permanently injure or cause death because of negligent omissions or acts and they are not being made accountable or criminally charged for involuntary manslaughter.
To really put this into perspective for instance, with the current OH&S laws, if a site manager on a building site does not ensure safety practices or equipment are available onsite, and someone falls off ie: scaffolding and dies, they may be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
How is it that medical professionals are allowed to commit negligent acts and are protected by the slack laws in place in Australia today?
You have the power to change this, SIGN THIS PETITION
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38895.html
The Australian Govt has conveniently prevented Doctors etc from being held criminally responsible for negligent acts in their course of duty, in order to prevent lawsuits left and right in this country. In my opinion this is unfair, in other words, a doctor can in effect maim, permanently injure or cause death because of negligent omissions or acts and they are not being made accountable or criminally charged for involuntary manslaughter.
To really put this into perspective for instance, with the current OH&S laws, if a site manager on a building site does not ensure safety practices or equipment are available onsite, and someone falls off ie: scaffolding and dies, they may be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
How is it that medical professionals are allowed to commit negligent acts and are protected by the slack laws in place in Australia today?
You have the power to change this, SIGN THIS PETITION
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/38895.html
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Tresna Cullen - "It's time Medical Negligence Laws in Australia are changed"
I would like to introduce you to a new friend of mine - Tresna Cullen, both of us united in tragedy at the loss of our loved ones through medical negligence by doctors still practising in NSW.
Tresna suffered the ultimate heartbreak by losing her daughter Jessica after presenting to a hospital with pain and pre-eclampsia symptoms in her eighth month of pregnancy that wasn't discovered on time and wasn't treated appropriately.
Another victim of a nation's shame. Another victim of a decrepit, deceitful and inadequate health system who victimise patients who dare complain and protects those who are negligent in their duties to preserve and sustain life by practising medicine.
Not good enough Australia, these same idiots are still practising medicine possibly treating your loved ones and through this corrupt system are taught to hide their mistakes at the expense of life and YOUR TAXES to pay for their incompetence.
"Tresna and I have discussed our respective stories and I will be joining Tresna's push to get medical negligence laws changed in this country, so these so called professionals will no longer be allowed to maim and cause death because of their own incompetence."
To read Tresna's story and the shocking state of what's happening in NSW Public Hospitals
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/patients-hospital-horrors/story-e6freuy9-1225840396474
I urge all of you to PLEASE ADD YOUR SIGNATURE Tresna's petition which is linked below
http://www.petitionspot.com/profile/5116435/Tresna_Cullen/
"Don't let Australia's public hospitals become human Abattoirs. Make the butchers accountable for their negligence." Medical Negligence Petition coming soon......
Tresna suffered the ultimate heartbreak by losing her daughter Jessica after presenting to a hospital with pain and pre-eclampsia symptoms in her eighth month of pregnancy that wasn't discovered on time and wasn't treated appropriately.
Another victim of a nation's shame. Another victim of a decrepit, deceitful and inadequate health system who victimise patients who dare complain and protects those who are negligent in their duties to preserve and sustain life by practising medicine.
Not good enough Australia, these same idiots are still practising medicine possibly treating your loved ones and through this corrupt system are taught to hide their mistakes at the expense of life and YOUR TAXES to pay for their incompetence.
"Tresna and I have discussed our respective stories and I will be joining Tresna's push to get medical negligence laws changed in this country, so these so called professionals will no longer be allowed to maim and cause death because of their own incompetence."
To read Tresna's story and the shocking state of what's happening in NSW Public Hospitals
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/patients-hospital-horrors/story-e6freuy9-1225840396474
I urge all of you to PLEASE ADD YOUR SIGNATURE Tresna's petition which is linked below
http://www.petitionspot.com/profile/5116435/Tresna_Cullen/
"Don't let Australia's public hospitals become human Abattoirs. Make the butchers accountable for their negligence." Medical Negligence Petition coming soon......
Sunday, August 15, 2010
HCCC, The Coroner, St Vincent's Hospital and the first Anniversary of Mato's death
Tuesday marks the first anniversary of my father's death at the hands of St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst. I have been keeping the details under wraps on this blog for legal reasons.
But what I will say is that our family watched firsthand my father die due to a number of errors on that night and I have been trying to have this matter investigated by the HCCC (Health Care Complaints Commission) and those who failed their duty of care to my father on that night made accountable.
After a year of trying to get answers from St Vincent's, the HCCC and the Coroner who by the way has advised me that they simply dont have enough resources, I have still not been given an answer as to why my father died on the 17th of August 2009.
It seems that in NSW there are simply not enough resources for the State Coroner to devote to those who's deaths are questionable, medical professionals are not made accountable for breaching a hospital's own procedures (the Hospital has admitted this) and the HCCC who believe that hastening a man's death by undergoing a procedure in a public hospital is not outside normal practicing procedures under anaesthetic to warrant disciplinary action.
The public health system in Australia is a disaster. For the aged and those that are terminally ill, pray to god you die before you put your faith in the public health system. I have received nothing but stumbling blocks in my quest to gain justice for my father.
It seems that medical professionals are exempt and untouchable for being held accountable for their errors, that in my father's case, cost him his life. Terminally ill or not, this was not a decent way for any human being's life to end.
In my own profession, if I cause serious errors, it may cost me my job. Yet if you are a Dr who performs a procedure without obtaining informed consent, breaching hospital procedures and not monitoring the patient who's life is in your hands, you are protected by the Government bodies who's job it is to improve people's lives and to ensure you receive the treatment YOUR TAXES PAY FOR.
Why do Australians cop this from those who we elect to act in our best interests? Why do we allow those who are considered to serve the community and who supposedly choose to undertake one of the more respected and honoured professions be allowed to be ensconsed in a layer of protection from prosecution from the legal system by the medical mafia in cohorts with the Government who wish to hide the shocking state of our public hospital system and their own incompetence, lack of funding and failure to provide a good public health system in a supposed first world country?
This is why I would support a private health system and a dismantling of the public health system, this would mean accountability, a high level of service and alot of buerocrats out of work.
The US have got it right, I wouldn't mind paying a $15 copay for a top class level of healthcare where the possiblity of litigation makes sure the i's are dotted and their t's are crossed.
But what I will say is that our family watched firsthand my father die due to a number of errors on that night and I have been trying to have this matter investigated by the HCCC (Health Care Complaints Commission) and those who failed their duty of care to my father on that night made accountable.
After a year of trying to get answers from St Vincent's, the HCCC and the Coroner who by the way has advised me that they simply dont have enough resources, I have still not been given an answer as to why my father died on the 17th of August 2009.
It seems that in NSW there are simply not enough resources for the State Coroner to devote to those who's deaths are questionable, medical professionals are not made accountable for breaching a hospital's own procedures (the Hospital has admitted this) and the HCCC who believe that hastening a man's death by undergoing a procedure in a public hospital is not outside normal practicing procedures under anaesthetic to warrant disciplinary action.
The public health system in Australia is a disaster. For the aged and those that are terminally ill, pray to god you die before you put your faith in the public health system. I have received nothing but stumbling blocks in my quest to gain justice for my father.
It seems that medical professionals are exempt and untouchable for being held accountable for their errors, that in my father's case, cost him his life. Terminally ill or not, this was not a decent way for any human being's life to end.
In my own profession, if I cause serious errors, it may cost me my job. Yet if you are a Dr who performs a procedure without obtaining informed consent, breaching hospital procedures and not monitoring the patient who's life is in your hands, you are protected by the Government bodies who's job it is to improve people's lives and to ensure you receive the treatment YOUR TAXES PAY FOR.
Why do Australians cop this from those who we elect to act in our best interests? Why do we allow those who are considered to serve the community and who supposedly choose to undertake one of the more respected and honoured professions be allowed to be ensconsed in a layer of protection from prosecution from the legal system by the medical mafia in cohorts with the Government who wish to hide the shocking state of our public hospital system and their own incompetence, lack of funding and failure to provide a good public health system in a supposed first world country?
This is why I would support a private health system and a dismantling of the public health system, this would mean accountability, a high level of service and alot of buerocrats out of work.
The US have got it right, I wouldn't mind paying a $15 copay for a top class level of healthcare where the possiblity of litigation makes sure the i's are dotted and their t's are crossed.
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