WEBVTT - Episode 7: Cover It Up 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:09.000 My name is Hedley Thomas. Sick to Death is based 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.320 on my book of the same name, and it's the 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.800 true story of doctor Jan Patel's lies and manipulation and 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.720 the herculean effort it took to finally stop him. We've 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:24.000 used voice actors throughout this series, and on occasion the 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.440 real people from the story have read their words for us. 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.360 It is brought to you by Me and the Australian. 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:44.600 Chapter twenty nine, Make or Break, eighteen March two thousand 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:59.320 and five. The two lane road from Bunderberg to Seaside 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:03.760 Baghara was one Tony Hoffman had traveled often. Its red 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:09.520 dirt shoulders give way to waving fields of sugarcane, strawberry plantations, 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:14.800 acres of beans, and roadside produced stalls with hand lettered signs. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:19.520 The nurse noticed none of these as she gripped the 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.920 wheel of her Burgundy red miss and pulsar and sped 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:27.160 through a storm and fierce rain to rob Messenger's office. 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:31.640 Hoffman was going outside the secretive Queensland health system by 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:36.840 approaching a local parliamentarian. She didn't know if he could 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.560 be trusted. She didn't know if he would believe her. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:45.880 Her anxiety mounted as the familiar scenery flew by. She 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:52.360 felt sadness, anger, fear and tension. After Jayan Pttel's boastful 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.160 announcement that his contract at the hospital had been extended, 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:01.360 Hoffman and the nurses who supported her felt helpless. She 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.240 had made up her mind to ring Messenger to set 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:08.840 up an appointment afterwards, reflecting on what she had briefly 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:13.440 told him in that first tentative telephone conversation, she feared 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:18.200 that Rob Messenger would believe she was unhinged. She confided 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:21.280 her plan to Karen Fox, telling. 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.840 Her, you know, I'm ringing him up and saying patients 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.680 are dying at the hospital and he's probably thinking this 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.239 woman's crazy. This can't be happening, but it is happening. 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.760 Messenger's staff had gone home. By the time Tony Hoffman 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:41.280 arrived about five point thirty pm at Chop seven Bagara Plaza. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:45.919 Her makeup was streaked by tears. He sat her down 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:50.280 with a mini recorder, his preferred tool when receiving sensitive 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:55.000 complaints from constituents or sources. You could never be too 0:02:55.080 --> 0:03:00.280 careful in the cut and thrust of Queensland politics. You 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.800 to state your name, please, Messenger started like a copper 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.400 conducting a record of interview with a criminal, except his 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:10.600 delivery was gentle and patient. 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:15.880 Tony Hoffman, Tony, do you want to claim whistleblower status? 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:20.000 Messenger hoped that the nurse would seek the limited protection 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:24.000 afforded to public servants making a serious disclosure to a 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:25.040 local politician. 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.800 Yes, have you come to me because you believe that 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.840 doctor Patel is incompetent in killing people? 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:32.639 Yes? 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:33.600 Yes I do. 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:39.000 There it was done. She would not turn back now 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.160 for the next ninety minutes. Hoffman let Messenger know the 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:47.880 entire dreadful story. Messenger asked her if she was fearful. 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:52.520 She replied, I guess I'm more distressed than scared, because 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.960 I've watched patients sty I feel that every time I 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.440 see him walk in the unit, I feel sick because 0:03:58.440 --> 0:03:59.880 I just think, who's going to kill an? 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:00.320 Now? 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:01.440 What's it going to do? 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:01.880 Now? 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.720 And we all feel like that. All of the nurses 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.800 feel like that, they feel physically ill when he walks 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.280 in because they just know that he's going to try 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.600 and interfere with something, operate on someone, cause more of 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.360 a problem and a complication, or stop a transfer which 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.599 has been arranged. He says he trained in the United States. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.800 We did a search on the net because there's a 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.640 site there that you can look up physicians qualifications, and 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.760 it says that he trained in India in nineteen seventy 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:36.279 three and that he has a general qualification. He continually 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.800 tells us all sorts of things, like he's been a 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.680 trauma surgeon for twenty five years and that he's been 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.839 a cardiothoracic surgeon for about fifteen years. He seems to 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.440 have a new qualification every time he talks about it, 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.679 but we've not seen any of that. He also stated 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.120 he studied medicine who's only fifteen years old. So you know, 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.839 like we sort of don't believe very much what he 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.280 says because you know, it's just impossible. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.799 Messenger wanted to know about the culture of the hospital. 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.200 He had his views about how a moribund or incompetent 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.160 management might be impotent to act against a dangerous doctor. 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.480 Those views were about to be strongly reinforced. 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:22.159 I think of all the places I've worked, Jim, I've 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.200 never worked in a place like this. There's bullying, intimidation. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.240 You can't trust that anybody is going to tell the truth. 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.560 The nurses hold the hospital together, and there's some great doctors, 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.240 but these few people hold the hospital together, and the 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.640 district manager takes the credit for it. 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:44.920 Messengers quietly effective interviewing style had been honed as a 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:49.520 commentator behind the microphone in the local ABC radio studios. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.599 You say, in some of that literature that I've read, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:58.159 doctor Patel insists on keeping patients longer than what the 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.160 unit is equipped to keep. Can you explain that? 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:02.320 Well? 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.000 As I said, we only keep patients for twenty four 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.760 to forty eight hours, we do try and keep them 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.479 for longer, and we often do keep them for longer, 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:15.520 and we substitute our staffing with overtime. But Dr Pitateell 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:19.560 refused to transfer his patients to Brisbane. He said he 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.680 wasn't going to practice medicine like that, and he would 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.320 go up to Doctor Keating and throw a tantrum and 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.640 say he was leaving or resigning, or just refuse to 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.760 transfer them out. Sometimes we would have a bed in 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.719 Brisbane for a patient, especially if they were quite sick, 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.520 and then Dr Pittell would stop the transfer, and then 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.120 we would lose the bed because Brisbane would need the bed. 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:46.000 For someone else, so he consistently would interfere and stop 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:50.520 the patients from being transferred to Brisbane, which caused enormous 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:55.200 problems for us as nurses. I mean, we were continually 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.000 putting people on overtime. It blew out our budget for 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.360 the first time in four years because we had patients. 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.719 We kept patients for so long. And the thing is 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.680 the patients weren't getting the care that they needed anyway, 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.960 because he's not a good doctor. The complication rate was 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:16.400 so high that all these patients all had huge complications 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.240 that weren't being addressed properly. What we've tried to do 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.520 through Queensland Health is go through the right channels and 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.600 address this properly, but it doesn't seem to have worked. 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:30.920 I've come to you because I guess as the last resort, 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.200 because we didn't know what else to do. I mean, 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.120 I'm here not only as a representative for my own concerns, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.200 but I'm here representing the concerns of a lot of 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.120 people who were too scared to come. We've been told 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.000 that we're not allowed to come and see you. We 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.440 literally are at the point where we are just about 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.640 throwing ourselves over the top of the patients to protect 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.280 them from this man, you know, and this is just crazy, 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:01.720 It's just ridiculous. This is two and this should not 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:02.440 be happening. 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:03.600 You know. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.320 We've got this code of conduct that exists in Queen's 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.840 on Health and we're supposed to have all these things 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:13.120 that protect us and the patients in place, and nothing's working. 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.920 And that's why I guess I'm here. I'm asking you, 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.720 who has nothing to do with the hospital whatsoever, to 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:24.480 try and do something to save these patients from this man. 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:28.640 We don't know what to do or where to go, Like, 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:32.040 who else can we tell? You know, we joked about 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.520 it the other day and said what else can we do? 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.319 Strip naked and hang from the tree outside the red 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.120 Rooster and scream out to Bunderberg, this is what's happening 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:44.680 at the hospital. So this is what I hope that 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:49.479 he gets stood down while there's a proper investigation done. 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.960 It was dark outside, still pouring with rain. It was 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:58.480 almost seven point thirty pm. Messenger had everything he needed. 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.679 It was sensational, more powerful than any of the information 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:05.520 brought to him in the past by people wronged by 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:09.000 the hospital where his mother had given birth. To him 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:16.320 where his mother died. There was something else, perhaps serendipity. Whatever. 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.560 It was a year to the day since his maiden 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:23.600 speech in State Parliament, when he pledged to campaign on health. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.080 He had ended the speech with a comment about evil 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:31.679 prospering while good men remained silent. Now he wanted to 0:09:31.720 --> 0:09:36.520 shout the Betel disaster from the rooftops, he reassured Hoffman. 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.560 The desperate woman, a lifetime Labor Party loyalist who had 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:46.040 not voted for Messenger and had never supported his National Party, 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:51.719 looked a wreck from worry and sleeplessness. Okay, we'll leave 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.840 it there. I know what to do. Hoffman eyed the 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.360 dark rain streaked windows and sighed as she prepared to 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:12.520 go back at into the storm. Chapter thirty Political Football 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:20.320 nineteen to twenty two March two thousand and five. In 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.000 a booming electorate that few expected him to hold after 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:28.120 his surprise two thousand and four triumph, Rob Messenger was 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:32.560 run off his feet. The needs and expectations of working 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:37.160 class families and sea change for tirees were constant. He 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:42.119 and his constituents were fortunate. Messenger had great stamina, patience, 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:48.200 a methodical personality, and dedicated staff. He had been shaken 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.400 by the intensity of the secret meeting with Tony Hoffman 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:56.360 and her shocking revelations. The documentation she handed to him 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:02.360 was extensive and worrying. It corroborated her motive story. He 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.480 had been told by too many staff and patients that 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:10.080 Bunderberg Based Hospital was a house of horrors. He had 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.280 witnessed his own mother's battle with cancer there. He intuitively 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:18.200 knew often was right, but he had to play it safe. 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:23.480 A bad call now could stall his political career within 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:28.280 his own beleagued National Party. One or two colleagues envied 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:33.520 his increasing popularity. They would not mind seeing him trip up. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.640 His speeches and press releases highlighting the problems at the 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.280 hospital were routinely used against him by the Labour Party's 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:47.599 Nisa Cunningham, the elected representative for the adjoining seat, for 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.480 hammering the local hospital and revealing its ills. He was 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.840 regularly accused of demoralizing the staff and worsening the problems. 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:00.240 If he publicly took on the director of surgery would 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:04.000 be picking his biggest fight. Yet it was conceivable that 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.960 the man would resign. A messenger knew this, who would 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.680 be around to repair the worn out knees perform the 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:17.160 colonoscopies cut away the cancer, and if Patel were not 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.480 as bad as Hoffman claimed, the community would be up 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:25.360 in arms. If Messenger forced an innocent surgeon out of 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.520 the hospital, the politician's head would be on the chopping 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:33.480 block and the voters would lop it off pronto. After 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.000 asking his staff to transcribe the record of his interview 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.720 with Tony Hoffman, he went to the country town of 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.439 Calliope and then to Gladstone on the coast for National 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:48.080 Party business. By Sunday evening, when he checked for email, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.880 every word of his conversation with Hoffman two days prior 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.600 was at his fingertips. He read it again on his 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.440 computer screen, shaking his head at the seriousness of it all. 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:03.480 As he rolled the text, he spoke to Mike Koran, 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:08.240 the reliable parliamentarian from too Womba, west of Brisbane. Hawan 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.480 had been a health minister in a former coalition government. 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.520 He listened intently to Rob Messenger's version of the meeting 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:20.400 with Hoffman. Mike Koran gravely told the young understudy he 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:25.000 had a duty to act with urgency before meeting his 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.440 political colleagues to explain the bombshell and work out a 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.040 strategy on how best to drop it. Messenger called doctor 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:36.960 Martin Strawn, a highly qualified physician in Bunderberg. Strawn was 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:41.320 known to Messenger. In the confidential October two thousand and 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:44.680 four memo which Tony Hoffman had written to Peter let 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:49.600 setting out the concerns over Patel. She specifically related one 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:53.800 of her conversations with Strawn. It followed the death of 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:58.600 des Bramich rob Messenger read the passage in the memo again. 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.560 After the patient's death. When I thought he had safely 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.400 been transferred to Brisbane, doctor Strawn came to talk to 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.679 me in the office and found me very distressed. He 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.000 offered to talk to some of the other doctors and 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.160 get back to me as a representative of the AMA 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:21.240 in Bunderberg. He did this. He stated, there is widespread concern, 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:23.880 but at the moment no one is willing to stick 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.440 their neck out. He urged me to keep stats on 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:28.600 my concerns. 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:34.960 Messenger dialed Strawn's number. It was a confidential query, Messenger 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.840 explained to the doctor, before candidly revealing how he had 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:43.840 received statements and information about Patel and the serious concerns 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:48.840 over his competence. He asked Strawn, a dry humored Seventh 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:53.640 Day Adventist who disliked unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:58.680 about the chain smoking wine loving incompetent surgeon. Did other 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.360 doctors at the hospital, all the visiting medical officers who 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.720 had contact with Patel and his patients share the concerns 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:10.320 about the director of surgery. Rob Messenger wanted to know. 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:16.440 Martin Strawn replied, yes, I know about doctor Patel. We 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.760 think he's going to resign in June, and we'd like 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.880 this matter to go away quietly. However, if this man 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.680 was to stay on for another twelve months, we'd have 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:33.640 serious concerns. The response flawed. Rob Messenger, knowing that the 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:38.200 matters were under review by Queensland Health Doctor Martin Strawn, 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:43.160 a former secretary and president of the Bunderberg and District 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:48.120 Local Medical Association, urged the politician not to go public 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:54.280 with the issue. If Messenger outed Patel, Strawn added, every 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.600 patient who had been operated on by the director of 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:03.400 surgery would be anxious. Messenger found this attitude hard to comprehend, 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:08.960 and later he would be furious. Martin Strawn was effectively 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:13.840 corroborating the story about Patel being dangerous. Messenger did not 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:18.280 know what was worse, the confirmation or the reluctance of 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:23.400 the doctors to act. He decided to smash their protective nexus. 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:28.120 If nobody said anything and Patell left quietly, he would 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.160 wreak more damage at the next hospital he went to. 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:36.040 Rob Messenger became excited and a little apprehensive as his 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.320 opportunity to go public with the scandal learned. He planned 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:45.040 to rely on parliamentary privilege, the protection afforded elected politicians. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:49.440 It permitted him to speak without fear of legal retribution. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:55.120 It was a permanent immunity. He would get his chance soon. 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.960 On twenty two March, State Parliament would convene for then 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:04.200 even sitting day of two thousand and five. Messenger began 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.560 rehearsing his questions. The plan he had developed in the 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:13.000 political party room would be a double act to reinforce 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.680 the seriousness of the issue and lend support. The party's 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:21.600 shadow Health Minister, Stuart Copeland would join in. In that way, 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.280 it would be harder for the media or the minister 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.240 to write it off as the baseless outpourings of an 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:36.919 inexperienced politician suffering relevance deprivation syndrome. The day began unpromisingly 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.080 for Messenger. As he took his seat on the opposition benches, 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:45.400 waited for the moment of truth, and mentally reworked his speech. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.840 He was jolted to attention. At nine thirty a m. 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.879 The Speaker of Parliament, Ray Hollis, went to his grand chair. 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:58.440 The journalists in the gallery above milled around with notepads 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.159 as media officers handed out press releases and briefing notes. 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:07.520 But already one of the Beatty government's more experienced headkickers 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:13.159 was on his feet, accusing Rob Messenger of line. Robert Schwarten, 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:17.040 the Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing, put the 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:21.200 boot in. The issue turned on claims of bungling over 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:24.720 the installation of air conditioners in a Bunderberg public school. 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:29.000 Messenger had raised it in Parliament a fortnight earlier, and 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.720 now Rob Schwarten was questioning his honesty. 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:37.199 Schwarten funded, it is important that honorable members in this 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:41.320 Parliament reflect accurately the facts and not mislead the house. 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.359 If it was a preemptive attack with the specific aim 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:50.480 of undermining Messenger's credibility, before he went public with Patel. 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:55.040 It meant something had leaked. It would indicate a plot 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:59.399 or a setup. The parliamentary session that morning featured the 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.480 usual verbal fisticuffs between members of the opposition and those 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:10.000 of the Betty government. Emergency Services Minister Chris Cummins was wounded. Cummins, 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.200 one of the lightweights in cabinet, was exposed by National 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.760 Party leader Lawrence Springborg for trying to dodge payment of 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:21.960 parking fines. Liddy Clark, the former ABC Play School presenter 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.159 who had been sacked after a brief stint as Indigenous 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:30.280 Affairs Minister, resented Springborg for describing her as less than truthful. 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:35.800 She called him an absolute grub. Beattie sang the praises 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.760 of the smart state of Queensland, and he trumpeted that 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.479 Queensland's public hospital waiting times for elective surgery were the 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:48.560 best in Australia. Health Minister Gordon Nuttle pledged improvements at 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:52.800 the crisis torn John Tong Center, where thousands of forensic 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:57.240 samples needed urgently by police and the courts were awaiting 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:02.159 scrutiny by too few overwork signed. It was a story 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.159 I had been writing after a helpful leak from the 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:10.560 embattled staff. There, Rob Messenger tents as Stuart Copeland stood 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:11.280 and spoke. 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:15.920 My question is to the Minister for Health. I refer 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.879 to the fact finding process conducted by doctor Fitzgerald, the 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:24.720 Chief Health Officer, into serious allegations made about the clinical 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:29.920 and surgical competence of doctor Patel, a surgeon operating at 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:36.000 Bunderberg based Hospital. The allegations involve approximately fourteen patients who 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:42.200 have suffered serious post operative complications, including death, following surgery 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.520 performed by doctor Patel. As the findings of the process 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.080 have not been released publicly to date, and to ensure 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:54.080 that first class patient care is provided at Bunderberg Based Hospital, 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.920 will the Minister now release these findings. Will the Minister 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:04.439 have the allegation independently investigated. Will doctor Patel be stood 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.000 aside while he is under investigation? 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:12.399 Health Minister Nuttle, who had no idea what Stewart Copeland 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:14.960 was talking about, try it a stalling tactic. 0:21:16.160 --> 0:21:19.119 In relation to the issues raised by the honorable member, 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:22.359 they are matters for the Medical Board. I'm not aware 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.440 of the issues raised by the honorable Member. I am 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:29.240 more than happy as the Minister responsible to investigate those matters. 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.119 I will meet with the CEO of the Medical Board 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.360 today and speak with him about those issues. I'm more 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.520 than happy to give the member the details of what 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.119 I find out from the CEO of the Medical Board. 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:47.320 Mike Horan, a parliamentary ally to Messenger, exploded, you should 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:51.080 have known about this. There were deaths a one hundred 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:55.480 percent strike rate. By noon, Rob Messenger was ready for 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:59.480 his speaking part on Patel. He wanted to make sure 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:03.360 no misunderstood the significance for. 0:22:03.359 --> 0:22:06.720 The protection of patients at the Bunderberg Base Hospital Intensive 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.480 Care Unit and the well being of the medical staff. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:12.720 I make public and table a letter from the Nurse 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:17.680 Unit manager of the Bunderberg Base Hospital ICU. This letter 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.600 alleges serious concerns relating to the behavior and the clinical 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.200 competence of doctor Patel, an overseas trained surgeon working at 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:30.840 the Bunderberg Base Hospital ICU. The letter, submitted to the 0:22:30.880 --> 0:22:33.879 management of the Bunderberg Base Hospital on or around the 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.600 twenty second of October two thousand and four, lists the 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:41.920 cases of approximately fourteen former patients of the Bunderberg Base 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:47.879 Hospital ICU, who the writer believed required formal investigations. I 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.040 am astounded that the Minister for Health, as witnessed by 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:54.400 his reply this morning to a question without notice from 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:57.920 the Shadow Health Minister, was ignorant of the investigation. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:04.399 Again, reading aloud paragraphs of Hoffman's October two thousand and 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:08.840 four letter to Peter Leck, he emphasized how doctor Petel 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:12.720 was feared by nursing and medical staff as very powerful, 0:23:13.160 --> 0:23:16.320 and that anyone who tried to alert the authorities about 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:21.480 their concerns would lose their jobs. Messenger issued a plea 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:24.640 to Gordon Nuttle to release the findings of Chief Health 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:29.240 Officer Jerry Fitzgerald's clinical audit report and start a thorough 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:32.760 review of the entire hospital and its administration. 0:23:33.880 --> 0:23:37.000 I challenged the Minister to guarantee that all staff members 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:40.480 who choose to give evidence be afforded full whistleblower status 0:23:41.000 --> 0:23:44.440 and that they be protected from any vindictive administrative action 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:49.120 pending the results of this investigation. The Minister must immediately 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:53.679 stand aside and suspend from work surgeon doctor Patel and 0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:58.560 senior administrative staff Peter Leck and doctor Darren Keating the 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:01.920 staff of the Bunderberg Base Hospital ICU are desperate. 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:06.840 After Rob Messenger sat down the Liberal leader Bob Quinn 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:10.480 lamented a government that does nothing to address emerging problems 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:15.480 until those problems become full blown crises. Health, according to 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:19.720 Bob Quinn, was one of those crises. Malcolm Cole, the 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:22.960 Courier Mal's political correspondent, was on the telephone and the 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:27.400 Parliamentary Press gallery. He half heard the attack launched by 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:30.840 Rob Messenger, whose credibility was yet to be proved to 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:35.439 some of the journalists covering politics. We'll need to file 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:39.399 on this, Malcolm said to his colleague Grocemary Odgers. She 0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:43.919 too had heard the attack. Odg just doubted the veracity 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:47.760 of the story. Still, the Courier Mail was the paper 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:52.560 of record, she decided to write a few paragraphs. Behind 0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:56.840 the scenes, the political machinery began to move. By the 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:01.520 time Rob Messenger had finished his parliamentary sprat, Gordon Nuttle 0:25:01.600 --> 0:25:04.879 was close to having a ministerial meltdown for being left 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:09.320 out of the loop by his top departmental staff. He 0:25:09.400 --> 0:25:13.000 furiously ordered his staff to find the Chief Health Officer 0:25:13.160 --> 0:25:18.199 and demand answers fast. So much for the policy of 0:25:18.400 --> 0:25:22.960 no surprises. Gordon Nuttle seed as he relived the embarrassment 0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:26.320 of being ambushed by Stuart Copeland and Rob Messenger. 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:30.880 He demanded what is going on at Bunderberg Hospital. 0:25:31.720 --> 0:25:36.560 Paul dal Alba, the senior Departmental liaison officer, telephoned Jerry 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:40.639 Fitzgerald and explain the questions that had been asked in Parliament. 0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:45.400 At ten fifty three am, dal Alba emailed the Chief 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:46.160 Health Officer. 0:25:47.280 --> 0:25:51.159 Mister Copeland stated that you were investigating post operative complications 0:25:51.200 --> 0:25:53.399 and asked if the Minister would release the report and 0:25:53.440 --> 0:25:56.720 suspend doctor Patel. Can you please provide some dot points 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.479 by return email to allow the Director General to verbally 0:25:59.520 --> 0:26:02.439 brief them Minister this afternoon. We may then need to 0:26:02.520 --> 0:26:05.679 organize a parliamentary question time brief for tomorrow so the 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:07.880 Minister can respond to the question in parliament. 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.320 Dal Alba was ordered to summon Fitzgerald to a six 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:15.720 pm meeting with Gordon Nuttle at Room A three to 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:17.359 seven in Parliament House. 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:20.720 Glenna Viner will meet you at the main entrance to 0:26:20.760 --> 0:26:21.520 Parliament House. 0:26:22.680 --> 0:26:26.840 Dalle Alba asked David Potter, the media manager for Gordon Nuttle, 0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:31.560 to transmit the Parliamentary Hansard transcript and the statements tabled 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:36.560 by Messenger to Queensland Helps two media managers Lisa Schildtz 0:26:36.840 --> 0:26:41.480 and Phil Nickerson. Peter Leck was also to receive the material. 0:26:42.440 --> 0:26:47.680 Paranoid about the probable media interest, dal Alba then briefed Schiltz, 0:26:48.040 --> 0:26:52.240 Nickerson and another public relations flack, Paul Michaels. 0:26:53.280 --> 0:26:55.480 Due to the nature of the statements made, it is 0:26:55.600 --> 0:26:59.000 likely that media attention will result. The Director General has 0:26:59.040 --> 0:27:02.320 advised that Queensland Health response should be along the following lines. 0:27:03.000 --> 0:27:06.800 District Manager has sought assistance in evaluating the appropriateness of 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:11.080 surgical services at Bunderberg. This review is underway and Queensland 0:27:11.119 --> 0:27:13.560 Health will consider recommendations when complete. 0:27:14.560 --> 0:27:18.920 In his naturally disarming manner, Chief Health Officer Jerry Fitzgerald 0:27:18.920 --> 0:27:23.119