Hospital used ambulance, fake patients during ministerial visit

Ten staff members at a regional hospital sat in the waiting room and a fake patient was triaged from an ambulance into urgent care to pretend the centre was busier than it was during a visit from the health minister.

Wise Workplace Solutions has finalised its investigation into the fake patient saga, first revealed by the Colac Herald, stemming from Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas’ visit to Colac Area Health on August 9 last year.

Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas (second from left) during her August 9 visit to Colac Area Health.

The investigation, commissioned by the Department of Health, found there was a real possibility that patient care could have been impacted. But material resources were not found to have been diverted from genuine demand at the time.

“The investigator was satisfied on the basis of the available information that each of those actions were taken in order to make it appear to the minister that the [urgent care clinic] was busier than it actually was on the day of the visit,” an executive summary report said.

Colac Area Health apologised for the incident on Wednesday and accepted all recommendations from the report.

Thomas was visiting the centre to see the positive impact of equipment upgrades on staff and patients, she said at the time.

Ten Colac Area Health staff members, who worked in other sections of the hospital, attended the urgent care clinic during the visit and sat in the waiting room.

At least one ambulance was also arranged and presented a fake patient, who was triaged by the urgent care clinic staff. Ambulance Victoria is investigating internally, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Another hospital staff member pretended to have an injury and occupied a stretcher in the back corridor.

“Each of those individuals were registered as patients in the [urgent care clinic’s] intake system prior to the minister arriving and their arrangements were cancelled and the patients left the [clinic] after the minister departed, without any treatment being administered,” the summary said.

“The staff working in the [urgent care clinic] that day were generally aware, or soon became aware, that the patients presenting to the [clinic] did not require medical treatment, and they generally directed their focus on treating those patients who did require medical care.”

Those who were not involved in organising the incidents won’t be disciplined. The staff members had been asked to do this and acted under the apparent belief this was what Colac Area Health expected of them, the investigation found.

Wise Workplace Solutions and the department both formed the view the incidents were inappropriate and did not align with the department’s expectations under Colac Area Health or the public sector’s codes of conduct.

Colac Area Health has been asked to convey the seriousness of what occurred to staff and remind them to speak up about unethical directions.

Colac Area Health.

The department does not have authority to act against those who organised the incident and recommended that Colac Area Health determine any next steps, which could include counselling, training or disciplinary action.

Thomas always said the incident had nothing to do with her office. She said she had not noticed anything and had no reason to suspect, before learning the allegations had been made in late August.

“Taking actions that potentially put the health and safety of patients in our public health system at risk is a very, very serious matter,” Thomas said on Wednesday.

“Our health system is filled with incredibly talented, dedicated and committed nurses doctors, allied healthcare workers … This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable to me, as it is to them.”

She said the Liberal MP for Polwarth, Richard Riordan, should explain himself, given in February he said it was “standard procedure” for regional hospitals to make themselves look busy for such visits.

In a fiery exchange in parliament on Wednesday afternoon, Riordan called Thomas a “cheap and tawdry minister” and “a disgrace”. He was booted from the chamber for 90 minutes as a result.

Earlier on Wednesday, Opposition Leader John Pesutto said he had no reason to believe any party was involved in the saga and that he would not be apologising to Thomas or her staff for demanding a wider investigation in February. He called for the full report to be released.

Colac Area Health interim chief executive Professor Steve Moylan said the centre was committed to learning from the incident and providing a better service.

“We are sorry for what occurred in the urgent care centre. It is highly regrettable and we’ve accepted all recommendations from the independent investigation,” Moylan said in a statement.

“Whilst the investigation found there was no impact to patient care, we know the incident posed a potential risk and that’s something we will ensure doesn’t happen again.”

A whistleblower first brought the allegations to the Victorian Public Sector Commission. The commission referred the complaint to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, which passed it onto the Victorian Ombudsman, which also found it was not in its remit. The department then sought its own investigation.

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