There have been calls for the resignation of Mrs Jillian Skinner, health minister of the Australian state of New South Wales, after revelations that the bodies of two babies were mistakenly cremated at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital.
A 20-week-old stillborn baby was cremated at the hospital's mortuary in 2012 before staff could perform an autopsy that the baby's parents wanted, reported ABC News. This comes after health authorities revealed last week that a baby's body was mistakenly cremated at the same hospital last year despite the family requesting a burial.
The local health district said it had started an external review into the hospital's mortuary. Mrs Skinner said she had not learnt of the second cremation error until she read about it on Saturday. She told the media that she had received hundreds of messages of support, from clinicians, the local health boards and members of the public imploring her not to resign, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
Mrs Skinner said the health department was doing everything possible to reduce the errors, but some mistakes are bound to happen. "These mistakes have been happening since time immemorial," she said. "What we're trying to do is minimise these mistakes.
"Every incident is very regrettable, and that's why we're putting in place measures to try and make sure we learn from those mistakes and that we don't repeat them."
State opposition leader Luke Foley said a series of health system errors pointed to a "culture of cover-up" in the minister's office. And the mistakes would never have been disclosed had it not been for doctors and patients coming forward, and the revelations that emerged from budget estimates hearings.
"The public can have no confidence that they're going to be told the truth about our health system under Mrs Skinner," Mr Foley said.
This article was first published on September 5, 2016.
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