Townsville police shooting: Hospital boss hits back at cops’ union

Townsville’s hospital boss has hit back at police union claims over the fatal shooting of a veteran after his release from the facility.

• Probed: Woman’s death after discharge

Townsville’s hospital boss has disputed claims by Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers over the death of a veteran who was shot by police hours after his release from hospital.

Steven Angus, 52, was shot by police on April 21, a day after officers had spent two hours negotiating with him in a siege situation on Bel Air Ave at Kirwan in Townsville.

When he surrendered the previous day, Mr Angus was taken to Townsville University Hospital – with an expectation he would get mental health care – but was then released without police being told of his discharge.

After the death of Mr Angus, Mr Leavers demanded a full clinical health review into the death and demanded to know why he was released from hospital and why police were not told.

Ian Leavers

He also said Mr Angus would still be alive had he been given the appropriate care he needed in hospital and that police hadn’t finished their paperwork before the veteran was released.

“After police took this man to hospital for emergency mental health management, he was bizarrely almost immediately released by Queensland Health and was back in the community before officers had even completed the paperwork on why he needed emergency care,” Mr Leavers said at the time.

“Whether it’s a lack of adequate treatment beds or triage and assessment the Health Department needs to explain to the coroner why this man who obviously needed urgent care was allowed to return home.

“A failure to share information resulted in no-one knowing if this man was vulnerable, required further support or at high risk if he again interacted with police.

“The police involved are being investigated and their actions scrutinised. The Health Department cannot hide behind patient confidentiality or any other excuse, I want their decisions to also be fully investigated and reviewed for the coroner.”

The hospital committed to a full clinical review after Mr Leavers’ statements.

In a letter to staff, Townsville Hospital and Health Service CEO Kieran Keyes – who has not provided comment to media other than saying a review will take place – claimed the comments made by Mr Leavers were baseless, without an understanding of the facts of the case and undermined public confidence.

Kieran Keyes

Mr Keyes wrote to staff in internal communications about the “tragic shooting death of a local veteran”.

“I am incredibly disappointed that without an understanding of the facts of this case, the Queensland Police Union general president chose to make remarks critical of our health service,” Mr Keyes wrote.

“These are baseless and undermine public confidence in health services generally.

“I also think they undermine QPS officers’ confidence in the health system.

“Sadly, this behaviour has been repeated again in total’s local paper. I have commissioned a root cause analysis which includes clinical experts in psychiatry and emergency medicine external to the health service.

“I have committed to publicly sharing the recommendations (if any) arising out of that process and of course the full report will be made available to the coroner. Given the criticisms levelled against us this is important to provide the community with an assurance that we are transparent.

“Most concerning for me is that amidst all of this, there is a family grieving for a loved one, and I believe they should be allowed to do so without such unwarranted public commentary.”

The Courier-Mail asked Mr Keyes if he wished to explain further about his criticisms of Mr Leavers’ comments.

“I stand by my comments,” Mr Keyes said in a statement.

“Any recommendations relating to the root cause analysis will be publicly released.

“The full report will be provided to the coroner.”

Steven Angus was fatally shot by police.