Medical negligence: ensuring families’ voices are heard

In 2022, around 250 South Australian families learned for the first time that the Women’s and Children’s Hospital (WCH) had failed their children. Sadly, many had known this for a long time.

The effects of failures within the WCH’s South Australian Paediatric Cochlear Implant Program service and the way the major public children’s hospital treated these families are wide-ranging.

Families have told us about their child’s delayed development, the way educational outcomes have been affected and the psychological injury to both the children and other members of their families. For some, these injuries and impacts will be lifelong.

We help launch and manage compensation claims for children and their families who have experienced these failures – and we’d like to hear from any affected families.

Empowering families to fight for fair

Many parents have told us they “knew all along” that something was wrong. They knew their child and that their child’s development was not progressing as it should. But despite this knowledge, they were repeatedly sent away without the answers they needed and deserved.

It was a problem that went officially ‘undetected’ for 15 years.

Some were blamed for their child’s lack of progress. Some were told something else was wrong with their child, and that issue was unrelated to their child’s hearing. Parental instinct told them otherwise.

The truth was made public in March 2023, following the concerns of parents and independent audiologists that implants had been incorrectly programmed, leading to hearing and developmental delays.

Since then, a commissioned inquiry, the Independent Clinical Review for the Paediatric Cochlear Implant Program released on 21 June 2024, has exposed mistakes made in the mapping process of children’s cochlear implants under its care.

Medical negligence doesn’t discriminate

These failings were repeated time and time again since the early 2000s. Some of the affected children were relatively new to the service, while others had been under its care from infancy to adulthood.

In a recent statement, the SA government says 45 families have received ex gratia payments of $50,000 for incorrect settings on cochlear implants given to children at the Women's and Children's Hospital. Another 94 families have been given $5,000, and the hospital's chief executive has apologised to those impacted.

SA Health Minister Chris Picton has also apologised to the families, adding that the government would accept "in full" the review’s recommendations.

"None of this waives any legal action or rights that families have to take further action," he said.

Moya’s story:

Moya’s son Cameron was born in October 2003 and was diagnosed with bilateral congenital hearing loss when he was one. He was referred to the program at the WCH in April 2005 and underwent cochlear implant surgery on his left ear in December of that year. Moya then pleaded with the hospital, doctors and her son’s audiologist to get Cameron’s right cochlear implant as soon as possible.

But Cameron wasn’t offered his right implant until he was almost seven years old – around four years after it was first requested. By that time, in 2010, Cameron had experienced significant developmental delays. The right implant had long-term noise quality issues, which were poorly monitored and calibrated by the WCH. This led to further development delays for Cameron.

“I knew something was wrong, and my son wasn’t getting the treatment he needed – I kept pleading with the staff at WCH,” Moya says.

She says the challenging communication left her feeling frustrated and alone.

“Instead of working with us, it felt like they were working against us. I felt my son was falling further and further behind. I knew I had to keep fighting for him, but I felt helpless.”

When she read the outcome of the subsequent review, Moya was devastated.

“I thought our case was an isolated incident, and it upset me that all these other families had experienced a similar situation and had been affected by it. Someone should have listened to us.”

Cameron connected with our Medical Negligence lawyer Ric Traini at a community event for people impacted by the cochlear implant program.

“A not-for-profit organisation was helping them access the compensation funds the hospital was paying and they invited me along to speak to the families about exploring their other rights,” says Ric.

“Cameron told me his mum had been advocating for him and since then I’ve spoken to Moya on the phone and in person to help her understand how we can help her son.”

Moya says she was pleased to see that our Medical Negligence lawyers “were supporting the community and the families that have been affected”.

“As a family, we are grateful for Ric and his team’s support, and we finally felt listened to after all these years.”

How to access the compensation you deserve

To take the first important step to access the compensation you’re entitled to, talk to our experienced and empathetic Medical Negligence lawyers.

We take the time to listen to your story, and we help you understand your legal options.

It doesn't cost you anything to know where you stand 

If you’ve been affected by the South Australian Paediatric Cochlear Implant Program service delivered by the Women and Children’s Hospital, our dedicated Medical Negligence team is here to help.