St Vincent’s chemo scandal: Health Minister Jillian Skinner receives final report

HEALTH Minister Jillian Skinner is facing renewed pressure as the government prepares to publish a damning report into the St Vincent’s chemo scandal.

St Vincent’s Hospital.

HEALTH Minister Jillian Skinner is facing renewed pressure as the government prepares to publish a damning report into the St Vincent’s chemotherapy scandal.

Ms Skinner yesterday ­received the final report into allegations senior oncologist Dr John Grygiel gave dozens of patients “off protocol” low doses of chemo drug carboplatin and vowed to respond as a “matter of urgency”.

ST VINCENTS SCANDAL: FAILURES OF CLINICAL GOVERNANCE

But the findings of a linked report into Dr Grygiel’s work at hospitals in the central west will not be finished until the middle of September.

Dr Grygiel told The Daily Telegraph: “I would like to emphasise that throughout my professional life I have always been concerned about the wellbeing of my patients and I remain concerned for them and their families.”

An interim report found he treated 138 head and neck cancer patients at St Vincent’s ­between 2012 and 2015 — and 78 received “off protocol” doses of carboplatin. Thirty patients died, including at least 23 from cancer. St Vincent’s Hospital failed to notify patients for six months once the issue was discovered.

Investigation head Cancer Institute NSW boss Professor David Currow did not link the deaths directly to Dr Grygiel’s treatment but noted in his interim report that a “failure to adhere to protocols is likely to result in higher rates of local recurrence and higher overall mortality”.

A separate investigation found that St Vincent’s Hospital is making good progress implementing Prof Currow’s recommendations.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner / AAP