Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman grilled after rape-accused doctor not stood down

Shannon Fentiman has been grilled over Queensland Health’s handling of serious complaints by female nurses, including two of rape, against a senior doctor who wasn’t stood down, while the nurse making one of the rape claims was advised to take leave.

The senior doctor is no longer employed by the health service but was the subject of serious complaints by female nurses, leading to an internal investigation, as well as a police investigation.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says she will be “asking questions” about whether policies were adequately enforced after a doctor facing allegations of rape and a police investigation was not stood down from a Brisbane hospital.

Instead, Queensland Health allegedly suggested the female nurse who made a rape complaint to police take leave.

The Minister faced questions on Wednesday after returning from her summer break about a doctor who was allegedly allowed to work for months in a Metro North Health hospital despite being the subject of a number of serious complaints.

As reported by The Courier-Mail earlier this week, Queensland Health allegedly suggested a nurse who had made a rape complaint go on leave, rather than standing down a doctor who was accused of assaulting her in early 2023.

The senior doctor is no longer employed by the health service but was the subject of serious complaints by female nurses, leading to an internal investigation, as well as a police investigation. No charges have been laid.

The Courier-Mail understands two nurses made complaints to a Brisbane hospital that they were raped by the man, with one of those women also making a report to police.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has faced questions about a doctor who was allegedly allowed to work for months in a Metro North Health hospital despite being the subject of a number of serious complaints Picture: Glenn Campbell/NCA NewsWire

The hospital was also made aware that the doctor was allegedly seen to have pressed against a nurse in the workplace and simulated a sex act.

And another nurse made a complaint that she was harassed by the man online.

Despite this, the doctor was not stood down and continued to work at the hospital for months.

“Firstly, I want to express my sympathy for the woman involved. There is absolutely no place for sexual assaults in our communities,” Ms Fentiman said.

“I understand the health and hospital service – all hospital health services – have policies in place to support employees who experience sexual assault.”

Ms Fentiman said she had asked the health and hospital service to review those policies, including asking whether somebody external needed to be called in.

It is understood an external investigation is already underway.

“If those policies weren’t followed or are not up to standard, then that’s what I’ll be asking questions about,” she said.

“I know that there is an ongoing criminal investigation.

“I want to make sure that our hospitals are doing everything they can to appropriately, in a trauma-informed way, support anyone that has experienced sexual assault and I’ll be making sure that those policies have been followed.”

The Minister also said her office had reached out to the mother of the woman who had been to police, who had written to Ms Fentiman seeking her help on the issue.

The mother told The Courier-Mail her daughter was a “shell of the girl she was” whose career had been put in limbo following her complaint.

“I said to Shannon Fentiman, I will not be burying my daughter in 2024. That’s what I put in the letter. This is serious,” the nurse’s mother said.

The mother described seeing her daughter with injuries when she collected her from the train station the morning after she was allegedly raped.

“Her lip was actually touching her nose (it was so swollen),” the woman said, adding her daughter told her it was from an allergic reaction.

“There was blood and she was saying it was so swollen it was torn.

“That night I saw marks on her back, bite marks.”

That nurse has now been home from work since late last year while the hospital investigates claims some nurses at the hospital had been reporting allegations back to the senior doctor.

Queensland Police have confirmed an investigation was ongoing.