The Government has announced an independent panel to inquire into the workings of the Emergency Department (ED) at Perth Children’s Hospital.
The inquiry, to be conducted by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), follows the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath in the hospital’s emergency department on 3 April.
Minister for Health, Roger Cook said that under its terms of reference, the panel would focus on specific factors that contributed to Aishwarya’s death.
“It will also investigate the functions and operations of the ED and the hospital’s approach to clinical governance, risk and adverse incidents,” Mr Cook said.
He said the inquiry panel included medical and nursing leads with significant experience in paediatric emergency medicine and members with experience in clinical governance, medical administration and safety investigations.
“It is being led by Emeritus Professor Les White (pictured), a paediatric oncologist and academic who was Executive Director of Sydney Children’s Hospital from 1995 to 2010. He was also inaugural NSW Chief Paediatrician (2010-2016) and President of Children’s Hospitals Australasia from 1999 to 2004,” Mr Cook said.
Other members of the panel are Carolyn Hullick, Kylie Stark, Naomi Poole, Mike Wallace, Gary Geelhoed, and Suresh Rajan.
The ACSQHC is the expert body established by the Commonwealth Government to lead and coordinate national improvements in the safety and quality of health care.
