GO TO A PUBLIC HOSPITAL AND RISK YOUR LIFE

With the coverup champions at work in the health bureaucracy, who knows how much more of this is going on?

The number of deaths officially linked to Dr Jayant Patel's botched surgery at Bundaberg Hospital has jumped from eight to 13. Associate Professor Peter Woodruff, who finished an audit of clinical records of 221 former Patel patients in June, originally found Dr Patel's unacceptable level of care had contributed to the deaths of eight people, and may have contributed to a further eight. But in verbal evidence to the health inquiry yesterday, Dr Woodruff revealed that after reviewing the cases further he now believed Dr Patel's questionable patient care had contributed to another five deaths. He said that in those 13 cases Dr Patel's level of care fell short of that expected from a competent surgeon.

The deaths of Desmond Bramich, Gerry Kemps and James Phillips, whose cases have been discussed at length at the inquiry, are included in the list. Their names had been previously released from suppression. Dr Woodruff said that in the case of Bramich, while Dr Patel was linked to the death, other medicos might have also contributed. A total of four patient deaths could be linked to other doctors who were "significant contributors to the outcome". Dr Woodruff, the director of vascular surgery at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, said some of Dr Patel's surgical cases were "beyond explanation" in terms of why they had been attempted.

In one case, which can not be identified, he questioned Dr Patel's motives altogether because he said the case showed "more than a lack of judgment". "They (some cases) are beyond explanation . . . it's even being generous to him to suggest it's his personality and his wish to re-assert himself," Dr Woodruff said. He found Dr Patel contributed to or may have contributed to an adverse outcome in 48 patients, alive and dead. Dr Woodruff said the surgeon's inadequate care of his patients included carrying out operations without expertise, misjudging the correct operations to perform, deciding to perform operations which were either unnecessary or on occasions destined to fail and operating on the outskirts of or outside his expertise.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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