29 deaths at Launceston General Hospital to be investigated by Tasmanian coroner after senior staff misconduct

Inside the Launceston General Hospital there was a rumour deaths weren't being referred to the coroner and one senior staff member was at the heart of it all. That doesn't seem to matter whether or not you're a family member or a health practitioner, it's very hard to bring forward serious allegations. It would take two nurses using parliamentary privilege and an ambulance ramping inquiry to finally get some attention. An independent panel created to investigate the allegations. Confirmed what many families and staff feared deaths that should have been investigated by the coroner were not because a senior staff member had signed off on the death certificates. It raises some really very dire and very serious concerns around conduct at the LGH. My thoughts are with the families who are affected. I'm very disturbed by what I read and I take it very seriously. Of the 86 deaths examined by the panel, it found 29, or more than 1/3 should have been referred to the coroner. But the review found it wasn't a systemic issue. Instead, there was a consistent pattern of cases in which the senior staff member had certified deaths which they were not qualified to certify and incorrectly claimed to be the last medical practitioner to attend the patient. And that the pattern of conduct raises the issue of unsatisfactory professional conduct and whether the staff member is a fit and proper person. There has now been referral to the police, to the Integrity Commission and to Opera. There are now 29 families out there who have to come to terms with the fact their loved one's death should have been investigated. To understand what could be learned from it and if it was preventable. But the panel only reviewed records between 2020 and 2022. Meeting many more families will be left wondering. I would say to the families impacted that I'm sorry for not doing this sooner. Health system whistleblowers whose work still isn't finished.