Open Door Health Clinic, Mount Gambier

Mr FATCHEN (Mount Gambier) (15:36): I rise today to speak about an issue that has caused significant distress and frustration for many people across the Limestone Coast and one which, in my view, highlights a serious gap in our health and privacy system that urgently needs to be addressed.

Over recent months, my electorate office has been inundated with calls, emails and visits from former patients of the Open Door Health clinic in Mount Gambier. To date, more than 150 people have contacted my office seeking assistance to access their medical records following the closure of the clinic. That figure does not include those who have been pursuing the matter privately, nor those who have sought assistance through the office of the federal member for Barker, Tony Pasin.

These are not people seeking something unreasonable; they are simply trying to access their own personal and private medical information. Many require those records for ongoing treatment, specialist referrals, medication histories, test results and continuity of care; yet despite months of effort, many still do not know where their records are, who is responsible for them or how they can access them.

I want to place on record my appreciation to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing and his office, who have been extremely helpful in assisting us to pursue this matter. I also acknowledge the office of the federal health minister, the Country South Australian Primary Health Network, AHPRA, the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Limestone Coast Local Health Network, the member for Barker, Tony Pasin, and, most recently, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Every organisation has genuinely tried to assist. The problem is that none of them have been able to provide a solution. Patients continue to be bounced between agencies, referred from one organisation to another, only to discover that nobody appears to have the authority, responsibility or practical ability to resolve the situation. That should concern all of us.

What this case appears to have exposed is a significant gap in the system. We have extensive laws, regulations and professional obligations governing the handling of medical records, yet when a practice closes unexpectedly and the records cannot be readily located, there appears to be no clear fail-safe mechanism to ensure patients can access their own information.

There appears to be no single agency with the power to step in and provide certainty. There appears to be no straightforward pathways for patients seeking these answers. That raises an important question: how can a medical practice close and leave hundreds of patients uncertain about the whereabouts of some of the most personal and sensitive information they possess?

Patients deserve better than uncertainty. Importantly, when we talk about patient records we are talking about all patient records, not just the portions that may have been uploaded to My Health Record, not just test results or prescriptions that happen to exist elsewhere. We are talking about complete medical histories accumulated over years of care. Patients deserve to have confidence that their records are secure, accessible when needed and not sitting forgotten in a vacant office, storage facility or somewhere else entirely unknown.

We are currently awaiting a response from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. I sincerely hope they can provide some clarity and assistance for the many patients who remain affected. However, I must say that I fear this may be our last port of call. Regardless of the outcome, I believe this case demonstrates the need for governments, regulators and the health sector to work together to review existing arrangements and ensure stronger safeguards are in place.

No patient should be unable to access their own medical records because a clinic has closed. No community should spend months searching for answers about where sensitive health information has gone. I look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Minister for Health and Wellbeing and his office to pursue a resolution for these patients and, importantly, to examine what changes may be necessary to ensure that this situation cannot occur again.