The Queensland Public Hospitals Commission of Inquiry, often referred to as the Davies Commission, was an inquiry into public hospitals in
Queensland,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The inquiry was headed by The Honourable
Geoffrey Davies
Geoffrey Davies (born 15 December 1942 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor.
Biography
The son of an accountant, Davies was educated at grammar school and studied at art college to be a commercial artist before becoming an ...
AO QC, a former
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
judge of appeal.
Establishment
The commission was established by the Queensland Governor-In-Council in 2005 to investigate, among other things, the conduct of Dr
Jayant Patel, a former surgeon of
Bundaberg Base Hospital
Bundaberg Base Hospital is the public hospital of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. Bundaberg Base Hospital was opened by the Governor of Queensland in 1914.
A base hospital is a regional centre that takes referrals from outlying hospitals, and ...
. It was not a
Royal Commission and therefore had limited powers. The Commission commenced after the failure of a similar commission headed by Mr Tony Morris, called the
Bundaberg Hospital Commission of Inquiry.
Bundaberg Hospital administrators Darren Keating and Peter Leck undertook a court case against Morris.
The Morris Inquiry was wound up after Supreme Court Justice Martin Moynihan found Mr Morris had been biased.
Hearings began on 23 May 2005.
Findings
The commission found gross
negligence in Patel's conduct, as well as systematic failures of management to deal with the problem. Davies recommended that Patel be referred to the public prosecutor for consideration of
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
,
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
, and
assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
charges. In total seventeen patient deaths were referred to police.
An
extradition process was begun after the police issued a warrant for Patel, acting on 14 offences.
The report also found that amongst Queensland Health bureaucrats concerns regarding "significant and sustained statewide adverse publicity" were rated as significant as "loss of life".
The state chief health officer at the time, Dr Gerry FitzGerald was criticised for his own investigation into Patel, describing it as too positive.
See also
*
Health care in Australia
References
{{Reflist
External links
The Davies Commission website
Public inquiries in Australia
2005 establishments in Australia
Hospitals in Queensland
Queensland commissions of inquiry