WEBVTT - Falsified deaths: The systemic problems in Tasmanian hospitals 0:00:01.320 --> 0:00:09.360 From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.600 When nurse Amanda Duncan walked into Parliament House in Tasmania 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:16.720 last year. She was supposed to be giving evidence about 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:20.280 ambulance ramping, but what she actually spoke about was something 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.480 completely different and far more shocking. She claimed hospital management 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.880 had been altering death certificates, meaning deaths that should have 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:32.879 been investigated were quietly re certified. Those revelations triggered a 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.280 public inquiry, but questions have been raised about its scope 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:40.080 and accountability as new cases emerged that extend far beyond 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:44.879 the initial inquiry, including to other hospitals. Today writer and 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.560 former editor of the monthly Nickpike on his investigation into 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:58.520 falsified death certificates and revelations of a broken health system. 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:07.480 It's Thursday, March thirteen. So, Nick, you've been looking into 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.039 the Tasmanian health system and it seems like there are 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.040 some things that have been going seriously wrong there over 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.200 a long period of time. So to start with, tell 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:18.360 me about where this particular story begins. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.160 So this one begins when nurse Amanda Duncan, a long 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:26.120 sistem nurse, speaks at a public inquiry. So last year 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:30.480 she appears at a public inquiry into ambulance ramping and 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.120 under parliamentary privilege, she drops a bombshell. 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.039 I have received eleven reports from doctors and nurses who 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:41.520 have disclosed alleged misconduct relating to the death of a patient, 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.080 including falsified medical certificates of debt. 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.080 So the way that it should work is that all 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:52.280 reportable deaths that occur in hospitals, those relating to medical procedures, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.040 treatment or lack of must be referred to the coroner. 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.840 And this is supposed to provide a check on medical malpractice, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.120 to ensure that families know that their loved ones' deaths 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:07.400 are being accurately recorded and they find out whether or not, 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.840 you know, it was preventable and what could be learnt 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.720 from it. And you know, the documentation around patient deaths. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:20.240 It affects insurance claims, negligence claims, malpractice, worker liability and registration. 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:25.680 It also affects hospital performance numbers, and you know, indirectly 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:29.480 health and government finances. So the false reporting of deaths, 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.360 you know, it's a criminal offense to potentially avoid this 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.520 kind of scrutiny, and that's what appeared to be happening. 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.760 At least eleven cases were raised by Amanda Duncan that 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:44.680 avoided coronial investigation, and then her testimony led to an 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.040 independent inquiry. 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.320 Okay, so tell me more about that independent inquiry. What 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:49.880 did it find? 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.680 Essentially, it found that we were looking at an even 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:57.000 bigger scale. So the inquiry was led by a professor, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:00.800 a junct professor, Deborah Pconne, and soon I'd identified a 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:06.560 further sixty three cases of interest. He was investigating irregular 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.400 practices in death reporting at this particular hospital, on cessin 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:15.120 general hospital, and concerning a particular former staff member. 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.600 Doctor Peter Renshaw is at the center of these allegations. 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.000 He was the executive director of medical services at the 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.520 hospital for almost three decades. 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.720 He's been reluctant to speak publicly, but he has issued 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.800 a statement he denies all allegations of wrongdoing. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:35.360 He responded in an email saying I deny absolutely and 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.720 categorically any wrongdoing breach of the law or policy in 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.720 relation to either the reporting of matters to the coroner 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:45.560 or the completion of medical certificates of death. 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:50.160 And ultimately, the review examined eighty six medical records and 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.119 its findings which were released in June last year, were 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.840 incredibly damning. The review referred twenty nine new cases to 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.440 the coroner for investigation and found twenty eight to have 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:06.440 inaccurate documentation. It found the former staff member had engaged 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:09.800 in a repeated pattern of acting outside the scope of 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:14.520 the law. So it raised terrible questions. And this is 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:17.839 bearing in mind just looking at two years of the 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:23.279 Loncestern Hospital records over the twenty that this staff member 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:28.760 had been involved, and it was only looking at lon Ceston, 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.680 not more broadly. But it's still the tip of the iceberg. 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.640 Okay, So we're looking at dozens of cases of deaths 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.880 allegedly not being reported to the coroner when they should 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.360 have been, which I feel like I should underline, as 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.200 you say, that is a criminal offense. So what happened 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:49.760 then once this inquiry made those facts public? What did 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.600 the Health Department do? What did the Justice Department do? 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:53.680 What did police do? 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.320 So the short answer is not much. The government response 0:04:57.360 --> 0:05:01.000 has been tempered at best. They promise to improve their 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:07.560 processes around death reporting. The police, having earlier told Amanda 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:11.839 Duncan that they weren't going to launch an investigation, amazingly 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.640 found that they didn't have sufficient evidence to press charges. 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:20.600 The Coroner's office, who had been pegged by the Independent 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:25.000 Inquiry for being involved in the non referral of some 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.920 of the cases, had refused to speak to the PECNE review, 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:32.640 and weirdly, the Health Secretary told Parliament that they'd literally 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:39.960 be manually pulling files off a shelf in a randomized process. Now, unsurprisingly, 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.240 this process hasn't led to any further findings, any further reports, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.720 so in some respects, all the whistleblowers and a lot 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:57.120 of families are still hanging. The new investigations that I've 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:01.800 been doing indicate not only did the PERCNE review look 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.320 at a very very small subset of the cases that 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.839 the government should know about, the cases stretched beyond Luneston 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.839 General Hospital. The Health Department is still refusing to publicly 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.920 acknowledge that there might be other hospitals involved, but I'm 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.880 aware of staff from at least four other hospitals reporting 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.040 to the Health Department about incorrect documentation of deaths, failures 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:31.560 to send reportable cases to the coroner, improper input into 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:36.160 the death reporting processes by the LGH management. I've heard 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:40.080 of cases with someone from a regional hospital finding that 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:43.760 there was a second death certificate issued for a patient. 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.479 Two death certificates for the same person in the system. 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:54.480 New accounts and allegations are emerging weekly. They stretch back 0:06:54.520 --> 0:07:00.480 in time further and they involve the current hospital management. 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.440 Coming up after the break, who is responsible? 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.480 Hi? I'm Daniel James. Seven Am tells stories that need 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:18.200 to be told. Our journalism is founded on trust and independence, 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.920 and now we're increasing our coverage. Every Saturday until the election, 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.480 will bring you an extra episode to break down the 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.840 biggest political moments of the week. If you enjoy seven Am, 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:30.920 the best way you can support us is by making 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:35.880 a contribution at seven am podcast dot com dot slash support. 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:38.480 Thanks for listening and supporting our work. 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:43.920 Nick, You've been looking into the deaths of dozens of 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:48.160 people in hospitals in Tasmania who should have had their 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.920 cause of death probably investigated, but didn't. So tell me 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.760 when you started digging into this, what did you find? 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.880 I mean, I'd like to just give you one example 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.320 of one case and the effect have on someone's life. 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.640 So I spoke to a woman called Tris Davis, whose partner, 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.840 Graham Davis, he was admitted into Lonceeston General Hospital for 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:14.080 elective surgery in twenty eighteen. So following his procedure, he 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.920 had a wound that became infected and it was mistreated 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.720 such that he wasn't given antibiotics for a week. He 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:28.160 died in the Lonceston hospital, but his death wasn't reported 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.800 to the coroner. Tris Davis, who was suddenly a widow, 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:36.199 contacted the hospital and she suspected mistreatment or the misreporting 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:38.000 of her husband's death. 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.440 So she thought that the symptoms that had had while 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.960 in hospital didn't match the cause of death exactly. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.120 She tried to get it referred to the coroner. She 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.280 was knocked back several times. She went to the Health 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:53.439 Complaints Commissioner. Eventually the coroner did agree to look at it, 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.679 and sure enough found that the cause of death was 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.960 not a pulmonary embolism as it originally been put on 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.520 death certificate. He died of sepsis, So this really was 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:08.400 a case of mistreatment in the hospital. Now, the death 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:12.120 of her husband, she's been working to find out what 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:17.880 happened for six years, and she had two incorrect death certificates. 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.480 Her whole life has been turned upside down by this case. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.439 This is one case, So what. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.400 Is actually going on here? Is this incompetence in hospitals? 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.400 Is it malpractice that is being covered up? I know 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.960 that each case would have its ow nuances, but how 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.920 is it possible that this is happening on a systemic level. 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:43.000 I think there's a cultural problem that has developed over years. 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.520 The Lonceston General Hospital has had resource issues for years. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:53.360 It's had emergency department kind of waiting lists and ramping 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:57.319 issues for years, and I think over time the hospital 0:09:57.360 --> 0:10:02.280 management basically decided that some cases would be easier just 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.800 to sweep under the carpet than to have fully investigated. 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.600 And has there been any accountability at all in terms 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:11.120 of senior hospital stuff. 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.880 So the former head of the hospital has had his 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:21.520 pro registration suspended, but there's been no explanation as to 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:26.559 why the registration was suspended. He was cited for misconduct 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:29.839 in relation to an earlier issue that I reported on 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:35.160 as well to do with a pedophile who was working 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.959 as a nurse in the pediatric unit at Lonceston General 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:43.560 Hospital for nineteen years. So under the same management, we 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:47.679 don't know which of the reasons is behind the cancelation 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.640 of his registration. But what we do know is that 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:56.360 there hasn't been any police charges, no detailed police investigations, 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.960 very little reaction at all. 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.360 Okay, I wanted to kind of ask you, I suppose 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.040 about accountability here because it seems like what's happening is 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.040 obviously this huge breach of trust. People are going to 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.840 a hospital, their relatives are going in, They're not getting 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.240 the right information about what's actually happened to them while 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.280 they've been in the hospital's care. And then on top 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.120 of it, there is this kind of sense of evasion 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.440 of people having to wait years and pursue things on 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.960 their own, using their own time, their own money, in 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.559 order to get any answers, and it seems like there 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.319 is no one from hospital management up to government departments 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.160 to police who want to take responsibility or to pursue 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:44.560 this any further. So I suppose my questions are, firstly, 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:46.679 why do you think that is? And secondly, what is 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:47.520 the effect of that. 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:52.120 The effect is a general lack of trust in the 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:57.439 health system, unfortunately, and it's devastating for people in Northern 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:04.040 Tasmania to feel that the health system might not be transparent. 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.040 The idea that you might not be able to trust 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:12.080 what you're being told by your doctor. For years, these 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:16.439 rumors had been flying around among doctors and nurses at 0:12:16.440 --> 0:12:20.920 the Lonceston General Hospital. And really it was the bravery 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:25.560 of Amanda Duncan to front up to a parliamentary inquiry 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:31.160 and say I've got these reports, I can provide this evidence. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.800 But you know, to watch for six months after she 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.000 fronts up to this parliamentary inquiry, to watch it just 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.360 be covered up again. To have an inquiry called that 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.400 would only look into a fraction of what the problem is, 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:49.400 it seemed like a deliberate active evasion to me, not accountability. 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.360 Calling an inquiry seems to now be a way of 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.000 kicking the can down the road. So you announced terms 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.360 of reference that will only look at a fraction of 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.640 what the problem is. It takes six months, You then 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:05.800 agree to implement the recommendations, and then they don't get 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:09.000 implemented and years later you still have the same problems. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.480 And you know, one more thing I would add is 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.040 that if something like this had happened at the Alfred 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:17.120 Hospital or Saint Vincent's in Melbourne, or you know, the 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:21.079 biggest hospital in Sydney, we'd be talking about this nationally 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:25.720 for months, and yet because it happens in Tasmania, it 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:30.400 doesn't get any national reporting. There's twenty nine cases just 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:34.080 from a desktop review that should have been reported to 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:36.959 the coroner. This is twenty nine families who don't know 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:42.360 how their loved ones died. It goes way beyond just 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:48.760 some paperwork problems. It's not just maladministration. This is a 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.240 serious systemic problem. Anything could have happened. 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:57.160 Nick, Thank you so much for your time. 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:58.040 Thanks very much. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:05.600 Ruby. You can read more of Nick Quick's investigation in 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.480 this weekend's edition of The Saturday Paper at the Saturday 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:22.520 Paper dot com dot au. Also in the news today, 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:26.840 Prime Minister Anthony Alberanzi has ruled out imposing reciprocal tariffs 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:30.479 on the United States in retaliation against the Trump administration's 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.880 twenty five percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, which came 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:38.040 into effect overnight. Anthony Alberzi says his government will continue 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.000 to advocate for trade with the United States at every level, 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.360 through every channel, and the discussions with the Trump administration 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.080 are ongoing. And it appears President Trump has attempted to 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:51.120 boost the sales of his biggest political donor, Elon Musk, 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.080 in a doorstop held in front of the White House yesterday, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.000 with Elon Musk by his side and a sheet of 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.960 paper in his hand clearly listing the cost of teslavehicle. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.040 Trump told the media he personally will be buying a 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.680 new Tesla, before getting into one of the vehicles and 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.200 pretending to drive it. The sales pitch came after Tesla 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.080 stock plunged more than fifteen percent in one of the 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.120 company's worst trading days since it went public in twenty ten. 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:18.840 I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am. Let's see tomorrow.