Transcript
This is a transcript from PM. The program is broadcast
around Australia at 5:10pm on Radio National and 6:10pm
on ABC Local Radio.
MARK COLVIN, May 23, 2005
'Dr Death' was a bully: whistleblower
The nurse who blew the whistle on the botched work
of a foreign-trained doctor in Queensland has painted
a picture of a demanding, harassing and angry man
who bullied anyone who questioned him.
The Bundaberg nurse is the first person to give evidence
at an inquiry that began as an investigation into
one foreign trained doctor, but has quickly expanded
into a wide-ranging look at just who is staffing Queensland's
public hospitals.
Despite the evidence in these cases, the Australian
Medical Association is desperate that the inquiry
should not become a witch-hunt for doctors trained
overseas.
LISA MILLAR: Toni Hoffman was working alongside Dr
Jayant Patel at Bundaberg's public hospital when she
began worrying about his expertise. He failed to pick
up basic medical signs in one patient.
TONI HOFFMAN: He'd actually become more unstable,
and he also developed what to me was a, looked like
a chylothorax, which was another example of why I
was perturbed about Dr Patel, because once you've
seen it you always remember it. But Dr Patel didn't
recognise it at all.
LISA MILLAR: Toni Hoffman turned whistleblower, writing
a letter about her fears, which was then tabled in
the Queensland Parliament. That was in March.
A week later, the Indian-trained doctor left the
country bound for the United States; his whereabouts
today still a mystery.
At least 65 deaths are linked to the scandal.
Toni Hoffman is the first to start filling in the
details about the man now known as Dr Death.
TONI HOFFMAN: The yelling and the screaming and the
denigrating of the ICU staff, the calling of the ICU
third world, and the hospital third world, and…
it's difficult…
LAWYER: And this was a continuing…
TONI HOFFMAN: This was a… yeah, it was…
LAWYER: Constant.
TONI HOFFMAN: Constant. Yeah, yeah. And also, from
the first, probably after about the first issue when
we first went up to make the complaint, Dr Patel refused
to ever speak to me again, so I was trying to run
the intensive care unit with the director of surgery
who wouldn't speak to me.
LISA MILLAR: For hours Toni Hoffman took the stand,
offering an insight into how the doctor dealt with
his patients.
CROSS-EXAMINER: You had said in this statement that
Dr Patel would describe a patient as stable, when
all the clinical indicators were – by everybody
else's assessment – the patient was not stable.
TONI HOFFMAN: Dr Patel was very angry with the nursing
staff, because we were telling the family that he
was unstable, and he was telling them that he was
able. But at some point during the patient's stay
it became obvious that, you know, the patient was
going to die.
LISA MILLAR: Dr Patel had a history of alleged malpractice.
He'd been disciplined in New York and Oregon. But
none of that was picked up by Queensland authorities
when he started work at the Bundaberg Base Hospital.
TONI HOFFMAN: Dr Patel was wanting to do very complex
and large-scale surgeries which really didn't fit
within our scope of practice.
LISA MILLAR: He once carried out a complex operation
on a cancer patient the other surgeons had said couldn't
be done – the anaesthetist remarking it was an
expensive way for someone to die.
If patients deteriorated, Dr Patel fought any moves
to send them to bigger hospitals and into the care
of others.
The Australian Medical Board is worried the inquiry
will turn into a witch-hunt, with all foreign trained
doctors fair game.
It's suggested the warning signals were raised at
least two years ago about Dr Patel, but the Queensland
Premier Peter Beattie says the AMA has to wear some
of the responsibility.
PETER BEATTIE: No one's going to be allowed to play
Pontius Pilate here. I mean, I'm going to make sure
that the Health Department is held accountable, and
I think the AMA should be held accountable. Everybody.
I mean, right at the moment you've got a lot of finger
pointing and duck shoving about who did what. The
reality is that these things… if this is true
it is an appalling state of affairs, if this is true.
Therefore, it is a responsibility of both the Health
Department and the Medical Board.
Now, I'm not going to let one of them off the hook.
They're both responsible, and I expect when these
things are done that the appropriate complaints are
laid.
As of today, all gloves are off. As of today, the
reality is that everyone who's made a stuff-up is
going to be made accountable.
MARK COLVIN: The Queensland Premier Peter Beattie,
ending Lisa Millar's report.
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