Mental health nurse who gambled away $11k of patient’s money now works on Hobart psych ward

A mental health nurse who landed in hot water for gambling away $11,000 belonging to one of his patients in Brisbane is now working on a Hobart psychiatric ward.

Royal Hobart Hospital

A nurse who once stole $11,000 from a Brisbane patient with schizophrenia has been working for years on Hobart’s public psychiatric ward.

In 2016, Yogeshkumar Patel helped the patient – who was under a forensic mental health order and had been treated for a gambling addiction – install a mobile phone gambling application.

According to a Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision, Patel gained the patient’s bank account details, and over four days without authority, transferred $11,000 to his own bank account.

Patel, who was then working at the Park Centre for Mental Health at Wacol, spent the money gambling at casinos.

When he was sprung, Patel returned the money to the patient’s account with funds borrowed from an associate.

The tribunal said the patient refused to proceed with a complaint to the police, with Patel never facing criminal charges.

The Health Ombudsman imposed conditions on Patel’s nursing registration in November 2016, prohibiting him from practising in a role with direct or indirect patient contact.

The conditions were removed in May 2019.

The tribunal said Patel, who had an undiagnosed gambling addiction, gained employment in Tasmania in June 2019.

In handing down its decision in December 2019, the tribunal ordered Patel – who was by this stage working in Tasmania – be reprimanded for professional misconduct.

In the Tasmanian Government Gazette, former chief psychiatrist Aaron Groves gave notice that Patel had been approved as a nurse under the state’s Mental Health Act for a period of five years, beginning August 9, 2019.

This week, an anonymous source contacted the Mercury saying Patel remained employed at the Statewide Mental Health Service, acute adult mental health ward.

The unit is located at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The Mercury contacted the Department of Health, asking if Patel’s employment would be renewed at the end of his five-year term, which will be August this year – and what kind of vetting was undertaken to screen mental health nurses in Tasmania.

A spokesperson said it was “not appropriate to comment on individual employment circumstances”.

“The Department of Health has a number of screening measures in place as part of recruitment processes, including access to regulatory and reference checks,” they said.

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