Some 13 hospital staff have been sanctioned after being caught accessing Cy Walsh’s medical records.
Walsh, 27, is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty by reason of mental incompetence to murdering his father at their Somerton Park home in July.
A spokesperson for SA Health Minister Jack Snelling said an audit discovered the unauthorised privacy breaches by staff across the state hospital system.
SA Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said an inquiry would find out how widespread the privacy breaches are.
“When a chief executive says this is rare, we want to know, is this one in every 100 records?” Mr Marshall said.
“Because if it is, that’s many, many thousands of records which may have been inadvertently or inappropriately accessed.
“How often is this occurring? How often is there an unauthorised access to our private medical records in South Australia? We need to know and we need to be assured of this via an independent judicial inquiry into the integrity of our system.”
Mr Marshall said an inquiry would not just look at the latest breach, but would look at other problems that have been raised with health records systems.
“We’ve seen in the past examples where doctors’, senior clinicians’ records have been changed, where incorrect dosages have been given, and it brings into account the overall suitability of our records management, the integrity of our records management.”
Sacking for staff involved should be considered: Marshall
Mr Marshall also raised concerns that the Government was not doing enough to discipline the staff involved.
He said there should be tough consequences for people who break the rules.
“Absolutely sacking needs to be considered. When people are employed in these roles it’s a position of very high trust,” he said.
“We need to understand though what the motivation for this was, how they used the information, and sacking should be something that is considered.”
Phil Walsh, 55, was in his first year coaching the Adelaide Crows AFL side when he died from multiple stab wounds at his home.
Cy Walsh remains detained at the secure psychiatric facility James Nash House near Yatala Labour Prison in northern Adelaide.