SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

SA to disclose all patient snooping

The South Australian government says all details of the inappropriate access of patient records will be revealed in future.

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

The South Australian government has pledged to regularly reveal how many SA Health staff members are caught snooping on patient records.

The government will release details every three months on the number of staff disciplined for inappropriately accessing patient information.

Health Minister Jack Snelling says he hopes that number will be zero but that will be entirely in the hands of SA Health staff.

His move follows last week's revelations that 13 health workers, including doctors and nurses, were formally disciplined after they inappropriately accessed the medical records of Cy Walsh following the death of his father from stab wounds last year.

Walsh, 27, was taken to Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide for tests following his father's death and was later charged with the 55-year-old's murder.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

It was later revealed that a further eight clinicians had been disciplined for inappropriately accessing the records of other patients over the past 12 months.

Mr Snelling said as well as the new disclosure provisions, SA Health would conduct a review of all its policies and practices in relation to open disclosure and provide the government with a response by the end of March.

"Open disclosure is especially important when it involves breaches of confidential clinical information about our patients," the minister said on Sunday.

"The vast majority of SA Health staff do the right thing and handle this information appropriately, however there are very rare occasions when some don't."

He said any staff who continued to do the wrong thing would be appropriately disciplined.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world