Ms ROSOL (Bass) – Honourable Speaker, I rise to speak tonight about Tasmania Police’s response to repeated breaches of the law by Dr Peter Renshaw at the Launceston General Hospital. Early last year, two brave nurses, Tom Millen and Amanda Duncan, spoke to a parliamentary inquiry and made allegations that Dr Renshaw had falsified death certificates and prevented deaths from being reported to the coroner.
The government set up a review of this matter which reported in June. The final report found Dr Renshaw had engaged in a repeated pattern of acting outside the law. The matter was referred to Tasmania Police. In January we heard police had decided not to press charges. This was surprising and distressing for affected families and those who gave evidence to the Department of Health’s review.
After hearing from key witnesses to Dr Renshaw’s conduct that they were never contacted by Tasmania Police, we wrote to the Police Commissioner seeking a briefing on what they had done to investigate this matter. We are yet to hear back. We followed up the matter with the Police minister in Question Time today. What we heard was really concerning. It sounded much like Tasmania Police did not do their own investigation into this matter and instead only undertook a desktop review of the material provided to them. If police did not do their own investigation – and I cannot interpret what the minister said any other way – that would be deeply troubling. This is a serious matter of public interest. I cannot think of any justification for not having a police investigation.
It is not only the Greens who are disappointed about the way this has been handled. Let me read you the words of Amanda Duncan, one of the nurses who spoke out at the beginning. This is from a letter Amanda wrote to us today:
It is incomprehensible to me that Tasmania Police law enforcement have been clumsy in not asking simple questions to gain simple insights into severe allegations of misconduct by one individual and their employer, which has in fact impacted families across the entire state.
The community expected a robust investigation into the allegations brought forward by families and health staff. Families have reported to me that the DoH were directed to forward medical files to Tasmania Police, however some families stated to me, Tasmania Police reportedly did not receive these files by the DoH. I note who in Tasmania Police had the expertise to clinically review medical files for forensic purposes. If a clinician was engaged, were they independent of the DoH and Tasmania?
As a State Service employee, I am frankly embarrassed by the apparent mishandling of information which myself and other employees strongly believe is, in fact, a systemic issue within the Tasmanian Health Service. It was my expectation that the department of Health and Tasmania Police would work cohesively to seek truth and resolution, instead, families have been led down the garden path and are reporting they are worse off mentally and emotionally since this supposed investigation commenced.
In my view, the decision made by the Director of Public Prosecutions may be fair and reasonable due to the fact that there appears to be a flimsy desktop review by police in the first instance. This is a dangerous precedent that unethical and potentially criminal practices in hospitals will be tolerated by the health system and police. In my view, this is a significant public health concern.
Thank you for sharing it with us, Amanda, and for allowing us to put it on the parliamentary record.
The Greens have treated this matter with sensitivity and respect ever since it arose. We do not raise this again simply to make a point or to push an agenda. We believe in justice. We believe justice requires a rigorous investigation by police, not a desktop review.
Finally, I want to note the progress of this matter in the Coroner’s office. The matters uncovered by the review were referred to the Coroner’s office in June, however it took until 28 January, over six months, for them to appoint an independent clinical nurse to review the cases referred to them. There was no explanation for that delay, but we do understand the major resourcing challenges facing the Coroner’s office. We call on the government to provide any additional resources it may need to make sure this work is able to be done in a timely manner. The affected families deserve that at the very least.
