Federal Government ‘deeply concerned’ over unreleased Royal Adelaide Hospital accreditation report

STATE Government ministers have not seen an “essential” safety report into the new Royal Adelaide Hospital because it was sent to the State Government after it moved into caretaker mode, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

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AN “essential” safety report into the new Royal Adelaide Hospital has not been released by the State Government, despite receiving it 10 days ago.

In a scathing letter to Premier Jay Weatherill, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said not releasing the report was “unacceptable” and it would be “deeply concerning” if adverse findings were being withheld from the public.

Mr Hunt said the results of an Australian Council on Healthcare Standards accreditation survey was provided to SA Health on March 5.

The report sets out whether the new hospital has met minimum hospital accreditation standards for safety and quality.

Mr Hunt said he’d been advised the hospital had not met seven core standards, and a further 17 non-core standards.

“It means that there’s 90 days to get these right and if not, then the hospital would lose its accreditation,” he said.

“Now, this is fundamentally important, it’s about the safety, it’s about the standards, it’s about the protection, and the State Government won’t release it to the Federal Government, they won’t release it to the public.

“I’m not aware of any other significant or major hospital in Australia which has had a report like that, and not aware of any other situation where a report has been buried at a critical time.”

Mr Weatherill said Mr Hunt was playing “political games” two days out from the state election.

He said ministers had not seen the report because it was received while the Government was in caretaker mode.

“It was delivered to us during caretaker (mode), we don’t see those reports, and they’re dealt with so deep in the agency,” he said.

“They’re matters of routine, they respond to the other agencies as a matter of routine. The only thing that’s unusual about this is a federal minister wading into a state election campaign.”

In a letter to Department of Premier and Cabinet chief executive Don Russell, state Liberal treasury spokesman Rob Lucas said the report must be immediately made public.

“If this report is being concealed from the public prior to the state election this Saturday, we would consider this an attempt by senior members of the Government and/or the public service to protect the political fortunes of the Labor Party at the expense of the public’s right to know and the best interests of community safety for all South Australians,” Mr Lucas said.

“I expect immediate action on this point from the South Australian public service.”