Kylie Lang: How Yvette D’Ath is still in a job is beyond me

Appointed by her Right-factional and close ally Annastacia Palaszczuk, Yvette D’Ath continues to stand by her as she stuffs up with frightening frequency, writes Kylie Lang.

How Yvette D’Ath is still in a job is beyond me.

Oh wait, she was appointed by her Right-factional and close ally Annastacia Palaszczuk, who continues to stand by her as she stuffs up with frightening frequency.

Frightening because Ms D’Ath presides over arguably the most important portfolio in government – health – for which we are all entitled to expect and receive high-quality care. Our lives depend on it.

But the only thing we can count on with this pair is ineptitude, followed by the attempted defence of the indefensible in an effort to save face after crises make headlines.

It’s only when pressed hard by revelations in the media – led by this newspaper – that the government deviates from its default position of making excuses for its failures.

On Wednesday, Ms D’Ath announced a probe into the state’s main spinal injuries ward.

It followed shocking revelations last weekend in The Courier-Mail that patients were left to lie in their own faeces, sit naked in front of other patients and subjected to aggressive bowel treatments at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath presides over arguably the most important portfolio in government. Picture: Liam Kidston

Yet Ms D’Ath was made aware of this neglect and degradation months ago, when former Queenslander of the Year and respected doctor Dinesh Palipana wrote to her directly with his concerns. She referred the matter to Metro South Health, which only got back to her after the proverbial hit the newspaper fan.

At no point did Ms D’Ath respond directly to Dr Palipana – even with a simple phone call – or put pressure on her bureaucrats to act faster on the situation, despite its dire nature.

Dr Palipana, who sustained quadriplegia after a car accident in 2010, bravely spoke out against his employer, Queensland Health, and “pleaded” with the minister for resources to enable optimal care for vulnerable people in their acute time of need. But hey, why rush things?

Ms D’Ath this week was unable to say how long the spinal unit review would take. This is cold comfort for patients and their families.

However, it’s hardly a surprise.

Patients were left to lie in their own faeces, sit naked in front of other patients and were subjected to aggressive bowel treatments at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

It reminds me of the heartbreaking loss of Brendan Luxton.

The 51-year-old suicided on July 17, 2020, the morning after his release from two weeks’ mandatory quarantine in Brisbane’s Marriott Hotel – after his family’s pleas to Queensland Health for an exemption due to his dire mental health condition went spectacularly ignored.

In December last year, Mr Luxton’s distraught family gave me a copy of the coroner’s report into his death.

It revealed, in a litany of errors by “unsophisticated” Queensland Health, an army officer felt pressured to give false evidence.

Coroner Clements said the officer, assisting a struggling quarantine system, “felt pressure from Metro North Public Health Unit to respond to the request for information from the Coroners Court with a suggested response of, I do not recall”.

So much for transparency. The Courier-Mail asked Queensland Health and Metro North if it had investigated this claim. We gave them more than six hours to respond, but this question – and others – went unanswered. Metro North did not even bother to respond.

The next day, we tried again, and a joint statement was issued that Metro North HHS would commission an investigation – and take action against inappropriate conduct. Where are we at now, more than four months later?

Whistleblower Dr Dinesh Palipana. Photographer David Kelly

This week Queensland Health told me the investigation was “ongoing”. In March it said it had “commenced”.

Maybe before we hit the polls in 2024 there might be a conclusion.

Considering the tsunami of stuff-ups – including in our regional hospitals, notably Townsville, Mackay and Gladstone – it is no great shock Queenslanders have lost faith in our public health system.

This is a sorry situation, including for the earnest doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who care deeply about their patients.

A YouGov poll conducted for The Courier-Mail this week revealed almost half of us doubt an ambulance would reach us in time if we were having a heart attack.

It also showed Queenslanders have more faith in an LNP government led by David Crisafulli to better manage hospitals and ambulances, with 26 per cent favouring him, against 22 per cent for Premier Palaszczuk’s Labor.

What this statistic screams is that confidence isn’t high either way – a terrible indictment of a system that is now in such a shambles that whoever inherits it will get a poisoned chalice.

Meanwhile, Queenslanders continue to suffer.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
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Originally published as Kylie Lang: How Yvette D’Ath is still in a job is beyond me