Sandipan Dhar’s father frustrated by health sector response in quest for justice

His latest frustration stems from what he believes is the lack of political will from an upper house committee to act on the grave problems he has personally experienced in the hospital system.

“A parliamentary committee has the unique ability to examine complex issues in depth, and we believed this process would help identify opportunities for improvement and provide constructive recommendations to strengthen the system for the future,” he said.

He lodged two petitions with the upper house’s Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs in November 2024, urging them to look into the Ramsay Healthcare Joondalup Health Campus public hospital contract, as well as hospital accountability and patient safety after his experience.

The first petition around hospital transparency was considered closed after the committee reached out to the North Metro Health Service, which sent back a vague letter explaining how it looked into patient deaths.

Dhar was not satisfied with this response.

“From our perspective, the central concern has never been about documentation of policy, but rather about how policies operate in practice and whether they provide sufficient reassurance to families when serious incidents occur,” he said.

Dhar’s second petition about Ramsay Healthcare also received a letter from the NMHS detailing the checks and balances in the public-private partnership signed between Ramsay and the government.

That petition is yet to be formally closed, but it is unlikely it will end in an official inquiry.

“We were surprised that we have not received any further communication regarding [the Ramsay petition] particularly as nearly a year has passed since the concerns were first raised,” Dhar said.

“Given the seriousness of the issues involved, we had expected at least some update on how the committee intended to proceed.

“What we would ultimately like to see is a system that gives families confidence that serious incidents are investigated thoroughly, independently, and with a clear focus on learning and improvement.”

Dhar is expected to meet Health Minister Meredith Hammat soon where he will raise the petitions.

“When the petitions were accepted, our expectation was that the matter would be examined through a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry,” he said.

“We believed the committee would consider not only our individual experience, but also whether there may be systemic issues affecting patient safety, clinical governance and accountability within the healthcare system.

“Our intention has never been to attack individuals or institutions; our hope is simply that when concerns are raised through the Parliament of Western Australia, they lead to genuine review, meaningful reform, and stronger trust in the health system.”

The committee was approached for comment but did not respond before deadline.