Still alive after 3 heart attacks -- but no thanks to a negligent Australian public health system

Townsville triple-bypass heart patient Syd Dart is considering legal action against the Townsville Hospital and Queensland Health. Mr Dart suffered three heart attacks this month waiting for his open-heart surgery to be rescheduled in Brisbane. His surgery had to be shifted south after Townsville Hospital management took the extraordinary step of closing down its cardio-thoracic unit on November 9.

"The management has a lot to be accountable for," Mr Dart said. "They are going to end up with blood on their hands." Mr Dart said once he had recovered from his surgery and returned to Townsville he would begin exploring the legal avenues open to him. "The duty of care has been broken," he said. "I fully intend to research what I can do about it and what avenues can be taken legally."

Mr Dart bravely spoke to the Townsville Bulletin earlier this month about his plight and was also interviewed for ABC Television's Wednesday edition of The 7.30 Report. "Most people are afraid to speak out," he said. "But somebody has got to speak out and I had already decided to do something." During the television interview Mr Dart called on the hospital's executive director of medical services Dr Andrew Johnson to resign. He was standing by that statement yesterday when he spoke to the Townsville Bulletin. "Instead of blaming the cardio-thoracic surgeons for the entire fiasco, you've got to include the director of medical services. The only honourable thing for Dr Johnson to do is to suspend himself from duty, step aside, resign," Mr Dart said on television.

A Townsville Hospital spokesman said Dr Johnson would not comment on Mr Dart's call for his resignation while investigations were ongoing. The hospital management said on November 9 it had no alternative but to shut the unit down after relations between the unit's staff deteriorated so much that patients' safety was at risk.

Mr Dart had a heart attack in early November before he was admitted to Townsville Hospital. "I was meant to be operated on the first or second of November," he said. "I had two more heart episodes while I was waiting in Townsville. "After the second one I was medivaced out and taken straight into pre-op." Mr Dart was flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service on November 20 and taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where he had another heart attack.

On the morning of November 21 Mr Dart finally had his triple-bypass surgery. He was discharged from hospital on November 26 and is now recovering in a nearby facility in the care of his wife until doctors clear him to fly home. "I am one of the lucky ones who got out," Mr Dart said. "If I had gone home, as they had wanted me to at Townsville Hospital, I could be dead. "The community has been put at dire risk, it's not right. "Queensland Health management needs to step in to do something."

Mr Dart praised the care at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. "It was a quantum difference between the administration at Townsville and the Princess Alexandra. When they said they would do something they did it."

Source