SA Health ignored warnings that someone would be killed under one of its patient transfer policies months before an inpatient died in a head-on crash, an ABC investigation has revealed. On October 18 last year, a 72-year-old patient from Renmark Hospital was driving himself to the Riverland General Hospital at Berri, about 20 kilometres away, when he collided with a truck and died. The man’s wife — who was a passenger in the car — suffered serious injuries and spent several months in hospital. Emails revealed senior SA Medical Imaging (SAMI) manager Con Kapsis warned of such a tragedy months before the fatal crash.
