Ryan Saunders was three years old when he died on 26 September 2007 at Rockhampton Base Hospital. The Coroner found the cause of Ryan’s death to be toxic shock following the hospital’s failure to detect and appropriately respond to a Group A Streptococcus infection in a sufficiently timely manner.
As a result of Ryan’s death and the Coroner’s recommendations, Queensland Health put in place a process for patients of all ages to request a second medical opinion if they believe they are not being listened to by their health care practitioner.
Queensland Health have developed the following flow chart for invoking Ryan’s Rule:
