‘There is … nothing secretive about this report’: Acting Health Minister Gabrielle Williams

Premier Daniel Andrews has denied being warned by doctors of a worrying rise in emergency department child deaths ahead of the last election but urged medicos to openly disclose hospital failings.

Premier Daniel Andrews has urged doctors and nurses to openly disclose serious emergency department failings that lead to the death or an injury of patients.

It comes after the Herald Sun on Tuesday revealed that top doctors alerted the Andrews government in the lead-up to the 2022 election that serious emergency department failings were driving a rise in child deaths in hospitals.

It was also revealed a significant review into of child deaths and near-misses had been conducted over a five-year period, but the government did not disclose that when questioned on the issue at the time.

The Premier on Tuesday said he wasn’t notified of warnings from doctors that ED failings were driving a rise in child deaths, and rejected claims the government hid the review.

Safer Care Victoria, the independent agency charged with investigating sentinel events, is yet to publicly release the report.

Premier Andrews says he wasn’t notified of warnings from doctors. Picture: Luis Ascui

Acting Health Minister Gabrielle Williams said it was ultimately a matter for Safer Care Victoria to decide whether the review is publicly released.

“There is, and I reiterate, nothing secretive about this report. This review is just a part of Safer Care Victoria’s ordinary work,” she said.

Mr Andrews said it was important that healthcare workers could speak up about failings in the system as part of an open disclosure culture.

“They have to have the confidence to come forward to learn from every single error - whether that’s a sentinel event or an adverse event,” he said.

The father of eight-year-old Amrita Lanka, who died from a rare heart inflammation condition after Monash Children’s Hospital missed signs she was critically ill, questioned why the government waited “for so many children to die” before taking action.

Mr Andrews hit back at that claim, stating: “With the greatest of respect, that is not correct.”

“I don’t think that’s a fair characterisation of what the government has done,” he said.

Originally published as ‘There is … nothing secretive about this report’: Acting Health Minister Gabrielle Williams