Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health, Senator Cash. Recently I had major surgery but had to be readmitted to hospital via the emergency department a few hours after I was discharged. The readmission was due to significant bleeding, which the ED doctors stated was due to me being given the wrong combination of postop drugs. Medical errors are a major cause of death and mental ill health in Australia, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reporting that hospital-acquired complications in 2017-18 alone occurred in 185,000 people. Can the minister explain what actions the Department of Health is taking to reduce the tide of hospital-acquired complications in Australia, particularly given that it has been around that 180,000 to 190,000 figure for a number of years?