Bundaberg Dr Robert Scott wins QIRC case against QLD Health

An emergency department doctor, sacked for his behaviour towards colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic, has taken the state’s embattled health service to court over the “harsh” decision.

The state’s embattled health service has been dealt another blow with the industrial watchdog ruling a senior Bundaberg Hospital doctor’s mid-2021 sacking by Wide bay Hospital and Health Service CEO Debbie Carroll was “harsh” and unfair, and ordered his job be reinstated.

A doctor of more than two decades has won his job back with Bundaberg’s hospital following an 18-month long unfair dismissal battle with the state’s health service.

Dr Robert Adam Scott took his case to the Queensland Industrial Relations Court following his firing in June, 2021 over his behaviour towards two colleagues at the busy emergency department.

He argued his dismissal was “harsh, unjust and unreasonable”.

The published QIRC ruling says this was in relation to the “substantiated allegation” he breached the conduct standards by behaving “in aggressive and threatening manner” towards them.

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Dr Scott had been working with Bundaberg Base Hospital since 2014.

He was a senior medical officer in the department of emergency medicine at the time, and had been with Queensland Health as an emergency physician for more than 25 years.

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Dr Robert Scott had been working as a senior doctor in Bundaberg Hospital’s emergency department since 2014 before his sacking in the middle of 2021 over a serious of incidents with colleagues earlier that year. The termination of his position was later found by the Queensland Industrial Relation Commission to be unfair.

The two incidents happened January 28, 2021.

In the first, according to Dr Scott’s own submissions outlined in the ruling, when asked by a colleague to perform Rapid Antigen Tests on people in the waiting room he replied “no I f-----g well won’t” and said she should do it herself.

He claimed this was because he felt she was unwilling to do the job herself, and “denied moving towards or physically standing over her”.

The second incident happened about 30 minutes later, during a discussion “with urgency” involving a second colleague about patient flow in the hospital.

He denied raising his voice or putting his face close to his colleague’s, and said he apologised just after the comments were made.

Queensland’s Industrial Relations Commission ordered Dr Robert Scott be reinstated to his position within Bundaberg’s emergency department following an 18 month battle unfair dismissal battle.

On June 29, 2021, he was informed by Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service CEO Debbie Carroll his employment had been terminated.

In response to Dr Scott’s submissions, Queensland Health claimed the dismissal was reasonable and not unfair.

It said this behaviour was not an isolated incident, “occurred in the context of a series of similar incidents involving complaints by staff about Dr Scott’s behaviour, conduct and communication in the workplace”.

These included disciplinary warnings for incidents in February and July 2018, and a three-month suspension in February 2019 while he was under investigation over 23 allegations.

Of these, only three were fully substantiated, and one other was partially substantiated, the ruling states.

Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon disagreed with Queensland Health, finding Dr Scott’s dismissal by Queensland Health had been “harsh”.

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service CEO Debbie Carroll had informed Dr Robert Scott of his sacking at the end of June 2021, but the industrial commission found there had never been a point where Dr Robert Scott was “on notice” and aware future conduct breaches could lead to his sacking.

In the published ruling Ms Pidgeon said on the balance of probabilities, Dr Scott had “behaved in an aggressive manner towards his colleagues” and breached the Code of Conduct.

However, she was not satisfied the January 2021 incidents were part of an “ongoing pattern”.

Ms Pidgeon was likewise unable to find any occasion prior to January 2021 where Dr Scott was told future conduct could lead to his firing and “it is certainly not the case (he) was ‘on notice’”.

“The substantiated conduct was not acceptable, but I find that termination is a harsh outcome given the broader issues facing the Emergency Department at that time,” Ms Pidgeon said

She noted Dr Scott had not been suspended at any point after the incident.

“Taking into account all of the circumstances, I do not accept that Dr Scott posed or poses an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of his colleagues,” she says.

Ms Pidgeon ordered Dr Scott be reinstated to his job with the hospital, and ordered Queensland Health to pay remuneration lost due to his dismissal taking into account any other income he earned during the period.

A WBHHS spokeswoman said Friday in a statement the body “notes the decision of the independent commissioner, and we will continue to support all our staff to ensure a safe and respectful workplace”.

“As an employer, we take our obligations seriously to protect the safety and wellbeing of our staff.

“Disciplinary action such as the termination of an employee is never taken lightly.”