Joondalup Health Campus: Ramsay announces external review following pair of shocking child treatment failures

An “independent expert panel” will probe the treatment of children presenting at Joondalup Health Campus following revelations staff failed to diagnose a child with blood cancer — who later died — as well as a separate snake bite victim. Private operator Ramsay Health Care, which runs JHC, announced the review of “paediatric emergency services” on Thursday morning. It comes after The West Australian exposed the tragic death of toddler Sandipan Dhar, who died at JHC on March 24 — two days after his parents first visited the hospital with a referral for a blood test that may have saved his life. Two months later — on May 26 — doctors and nurses at JHC refused to believe Olivia Bakranich-Fowler had been bitten by a tiger snake, suggesting the 10-year-old was faking her vomiting and blurred vision to get out of school the next day. Announcing the review, Ramsay state manager Shane Kelly said he believed JHC was providing “good paediatric services” but that the investigation would “identify any gaps and recommend areas for improvement”. The review will be helmed by a panel of paediatric emergency specialists from the eastern states, none of whom work at Ramsay. “The independent specialists will look at JHC clinical guidelines, policies, procedures and processes in the paediatric emergency service area, as well as staffing mix and development,” Dr Kelly said. “Communication with parents will form a key part of this review with the panel expected to engage with families, staff and management as part of the process.” Dr Kelly said the review would commence later this month “subject to the confirmed availability of the independent specialists”. Arriving at Parliament on Thursday, Ms Mettam said the failings at JHC were emblematic of a “public health system in crisis”. Three years after the Aishwarya Aswath died of sepsis at Perth Children’s Hospital, Ms Mettam said parents’ concerns about their sick kids were still being dismissed. “It raises the question about what lessons were learned following the tragedy surrounding Aishwarya Aswath,” Ms Mettam said. “It raises real questions about what impact has (Health Minister) Amber-Jade Sanderson had as health minister since she’s come into this portfolio? “On every metric, this government is going backwards when it comes to our health system and the very real concern around this is that it can lead to serious tragedies.” Ms Mettam said both ambulance ramping and elective surgery waiting lists had blown out since Labor came to office in 2017. In what has become a familiar line of attack, she said the Cook Government “have their priorities all wrong”. “The Government’s commitment to Metronet has gone from $3 billion to $13 billion. Over that period of time we’ve seen ramping increase by over 400 per cent. “They don’t care about health.”