01 February 2010
I would like to express my sincere sympathy to the family of Elizabeth Rourke, particularly her husband, Bob Rourke. Elizabeth’s death, more than three years ago, was a tragedy, and one we hope will never happen again.
This report has taken a long time to conclude. The police investigation into Elizabeth’s death had to be completed before any other investigation could begin.
This independent report was requested by former Health Minister, Senator Jim Perchard, and I am pleased that with today’s publishing of the report, this investigative process is at an end.
However, I would like to stress that the matter is far from over. My task now is to work with the Acting Chief Executive Richard Jouault, and the senior management team, to implement Verita's recommendations.
In some cases, these are already in place, and my pledge to States Members and the public is that I will oversee this process and report back on progress to both the House and the public.
It is my view that this report should not detract from the fact that Health and Social Services, and particularly the hospital, is a safe place to be, with staff who are experienced and well trained, who carry out thousands of procedures every year.
In particular, the day surgery unit is a safe environment, and Elizabeth ’s tragic death must not detract from the vast amount of work put in by the team there, who are hard working, and committed, and who, like Bob, have suffered a great loss. I compliment them on carrying on their valued work while investigations have continued.
This report, which only came about because of Elizabeth’s tragic and untimely death, is something we can all learn from.
Verita Report - independent investigation into the care, treatment and management of Mrs Elizabeth Rourke.
Deputy Anne Pryke
Health and Social Services Minister
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