Source : ABC NEWS
One SA Health employee has been reprimanded for accessing AFL legend Tony Modra’s private medical records after he was seriously injured in a truck crash, while two other employees remain under investigation, the health department says.
In a statement, SA Health said another six people were no longer being investigated.
“The number of employees under investigation for potentially accessing a patient’s medical record inappropriately has been revised from nine individuals, to three,” the statement said.
“Of these three, one individual has been reprimanded and two are still being investigated.
“Six individuals are no longer under investigation for this matter.”
Any sanction imposed becomes part of an employee’s permanent record.
Tony Modra spent time in hospital after the crash, and later shared a photo of himself in intensive care on Instagram. (Instagram: tonymodraofficial)
In July SA Health said nine staff were being either investigated for alleged inappropriate access to the records, or “assessed” to determine whether their access was “always appropriate”.
At the time, the department also apologised to Modra’s family for “any distress caused”.
Modra underwent facial surgery and was in hospital for days after a truck crash at Back Valley, near Victor Harbor on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula, on June 18.
In July, the Crows legend posted an update of his progress on Instagram. In that post he said he was now able to get “out and about”, and shared photos of himself in intensive care and recovering with his family.
In a statement earlier that month, he said he was “overwhelmed by the kindness and care” that he, and his family, had been shown.
Modra played a total of 165 AFL games for Adelaide and the Fremantle Dockers, after debuting for the Crows in 1992.
Police were called to the scene of the truck crash, near Victor Harbor, on June 18. (Supplied: SA Police)
The probe into staff accessing Modra’s records is not the first time concerns have been raised about SA Health staff inappropriately accessing patient records in cases involving well-known people.
In 2016, 13 hospital staff were sanctioned after they were caught snooping on the medical records of Cy Walsh.
Cy Walsh had been charged with the stabbing murder of his father — Crows coach Phil Walsh — before being found not guilty by reason of mental incompetence.
In 2024, ABC News revealed a SA Health investigation had found 18 staff engaged in misconduct or inappropriately accessed the medical records of a patient understood to be Charlie Stevens, the late son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.
The department has also previously said it regularly conducted audits “to ensure that staff are accessing appropriate information”.
