A man whose daughter died because of bungled hospital treatment says the NSW health system has "the mice in charge of the cheese" when it comes to handling complaints.Warren Anderson's daughter Vanessa was taken to hospital after she was hit by a golf ball, but the 16-year-old died after a doctor misread her chart.
It took an "astronomical" amount of correspondence before any action was taken on his complaints, he said.
"It wasn't until after relentless correspondence that we got something happening," Mr Anderson told an inquiry into the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in Sydney on Thursday.
"I am up here saying a speech - I should be saying a speech at (Vanessa's) 21st this year, that's where I should be - but I'm not, I am here trying to get to a point where Vanessa's death is going to bring some change."
In 2005 Vanessa, 16, was taken to Royal North Shore hospital after being hit on the head by a golf ball.
Two days later she was dead.
An inquiry found that the teenager died of respiratory failure as a result of "systemic failures" and the inappropriate administration of pain relief.
Mr Anderson questioned the independence of the HCCC, which is run by the NSW government.
"(People say) why go to the HCCC? They are just reporting to the government," he said.
"It's the mice in charge of the cheese, and that is what loses the credibility of the HCCC to the general public."
He also said that the HCCC didn't make the most of its powers.
This is unfortunately a classic example of the politics of the health care system for the masses.
Where a life of the general public is taken and EVERYONE involved denounces responsibility, and NO ONE can be sued.
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