Mrs Barbara Perry, MP
Minister assisting the Minister for Health(Mental Health and Cancer)
Level 33, Governor Macquarie Tower
1 Farrer PlaceSydney NSW 2000
4 November 2009
Dear Mrs Perry
Complaint against the Sydney South West Area Health Service – Mental Health
I write to you on advice from the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board as the specifics of my issues do not fall within their jurisdiction. My complaint relates to senior executive staff of the Area Health Service and in particular members of its Division of Mental Health.
The following are the facts as I stated them previously to the ADB. Please excuse the length of this letter.
On May 4th 2009 my employment with the Sydney South West Area Health Service was terminated by letter from the organisation’s CEO Mr Mike Wallace. At the time of my termination I was Manager of the Bowral Community Mental Health Services.
I believe that I have been discriminated against in my employment and that I have been victimised by the persons named above. However, the primary issue is that the organisation failed to provide myself and other staff adequate protection against the aggression and violence directed towards me by a client of the organisation, contrary to the prescription of NSW Health and it’s “Zero Tolerance” Policy.
The reason for my termination, following an investigation, was on “the balance of probability”, and because it was thought that I was “involved” with others in responding to a client’s defamatory comments on his internet blog. I believe that the presumption of my guilt prior to the commencement of any investigation and the lack of clear evidence of that guilt was discriminatory. As was the failure of the SSWAHS to provide adequate support and protection of myself (and other staff) from the threats of death, violence and aggression and actual defamatory comments posted on the internet all perpetrated by the organisation’s client.
Previously in 2009, I lodged an ADB complaint against the client of the organisation, due to his continued attacks and public vilification against me. I was informed that the complaint could not proceed but that I could consider a complaint against the organisation due to its lack of due diligence in providing a safe working environment and for failing to institute the NSW Health policy of “Zero Tolerance against Violence”. I also spoke with a legal firm that specialises in employment-related law. I was advised by them that, in the absence of any evidence that the organisation did anything procedurally incorrect with regards to the termination, I was unlikely to succeed in any legal case seeking reinstatement.
As a result of the SSWAHS investigation and decision to terminate my employment, on May 11, 2009 I was reported by Ms Jan Whalan to the NSW Nurses and Midwives Registration Board, and the NSW Psychologists Registration Board. It has only been resolved by both Boards and the HCCC in October 2009 that no action against me, by the relevant Boards, will follow the lodgement of those complaints by the SSWAHS. While the SSWAHS might suggest that they had an obligation to inform the Boards of the outcome of their investigation, their action has produced an outcome that has seriously hindered my capacity to develop meaningful employment in my professions in both the public and private sectors.
In regard to the failure of the organisation to exercise due diligence to protect their staff: During early 2008 the client provided the service with a copy of his blog entry dated 13 March 2007 and titled “Triage”. This article purported to give an account of the way in which the Bowral Mental Health Service responded to their clients. It was posted to the internet and could constitute defamation. It was shown to the Clinical Director, Mental Health SW Cluster Dr Angelo Virgona whose only response was to laugh.
On December 22, 2008 I provided the Operations Manager Mental Health SW Cluster, Mr Scott Fanker with the content of a tape recorded message by the client in which he defamed the person and reputation of an elderly staff member of Berrima Cottage (the rehabilitation unit). To date no action has been taken to provide advice or support by the organisation to that staff member. On the same date (December 22nd), I requested Mr Fanker to offer a response to my question: “Does the Area Mental Health Service accept the “Zero Tolerance to Aggression” policy issued by NSW Health? If so, how does it intend to protect the staff of the Wingecarribee Mental Health Service from ‘Paul C’?” His response was: ”Um, no this is an interview with you, not an interview with us so I’ll read those questions and we can speak about that um outside of the interview process, anything else you want to say?” At that interview I was also asked by Mr Fanker “What would you like us to do” about the threats of violence against staff (and myself) made by the client? I responded by asking the organisation to take out an AVO against the client to restrict his access to staff while he was intoxicated or otherwise threatening. I was told by Mr Fanker: “That will only inflame the situation”.
Between December 22, 2008 and May 4, 2009 Mr Fanker had opportunity to respond to my questions posed in the interview of December 22, but never did so. Mr Fanker also claimed to have had no knowledge of the ongoing nature of the attacks, both verbal and written by the client about the staff members and the service over a 2 year period. However, in early December the client stated in an email that he “had more than 30 hours of discussion with Mr Fanker about his issues with the staff and service. And that Mr Fanker had read all his notes, documents and history”. Mr Fanker, also in an email in early December 2008, to a person being verbally attacked by the client, stated that he’d gone thoroughly through all the blog postings of the client. Those postings had commenced in early March 2007.
On Monday, January 12th 2009 I spoke with Mr Scott Fanker about a blog posting by the client which was titled “O’Neill” and dated Sunday 11th January. In this blog my full name was advertised in capitals, I was called (among other things) that “DOG O’NEILL”, “JOKE O’NEILL” and “that cunning sly dog O’Neill” . I asked Mr Fanker if he had seen it. He opened the blog and read it while we spoke and stated that he would attempt to have the client remove it from his blog. Subsequently, I received an email from Mr Fanker stating: “Now is not the time to ask him (the client) to remove the blog posting”. It remained on the internet for a number of days until the client’s brother removed it.
On February 24th, 2009 I spoke by telephone with Dr Victor Storm, Clinical Director SSWAHS Mental Health, in respect of a formal complaint I was lodging against Mr Scott Fanker. I did so and emailed it to Dr Storm’s organisational email address that same day. It is my understanding that all complaints or incidents to any NSW Health organisation have to be managed on the electronic incident monitoring and management system (AIMS or IMMS). This allows senior executive staff in the clinical governance unit to note it, and also to allow for a timely response. It would appear (perhaps by his own admission) that this protocol was not followed by Dr Storm. On April 30th 2009 I again emailed Dr Storm (with an attached copy of my complaint) stating that I had not heard from the SSWAHS about any outcome in respect of my complaint against Mr Fanker. I received a response by email from Dr Storm on May 4th in which he stated: “Please be advised that Mr Fanker has been provided with a copy of your complaint and is being given an opportunity to respond.” This does not indicate that the usual procedure for dealing with a complaint or incident was being followed by Dr Storm. His final paragraph stated: “I will inform you of the outcome of my enquiries, in due course.” To this date I had no further response from Dr Storm as to the outcome of his enquiries. On March 19th 2009 while on sick leave from the organisation I sent an email to Ms Jacqui Clark the Acting Manager of Human Resources – SSWAHS to express my concern that personal information about myself, including the fact that I was on leave from my position, was made known to the organisation’s client who was harassing me. The client began to publish comments on his internet blog that directly conveyed his intimate knowledge of my being on leave, but also the nature and duration of that leave. The client went so far as to publish the fact that the investigation was almost at an end (of which I had not been informed), that the outcome would be negative for me, and that I would most likely be offered retirement or the capacity to be allowed to plead work related stress. I received no response from the SSWAHS Human Resources Department about any breach of my confidentiality by persons from within the Area Health Service to the organisation’s client.
Between May 4th 2009 and July 2009 I was forwarded a constant stream of emails sent by the client directed to myself and others, the content of which was constantly denigrating and threatening to myself and others. Those emails from the organisation’s client were simply forwarded on by myself to the key senior Executive members of the SSWAHS already involved in the investigation. This was an attempt on my part to alert the organisation that the activities of their client remained harassing and threatening to myself and others in the community. The only response came from Ms Jan Whalan, Director of Corporate Services – SSWAHS who, on June 9th 2009 sent me an email which stated: “Dear Sir, I am adding your email address to my junk email address list. I am not going to read or reply to emails from platwood@hinet.net.au. I have advised Victor Storm, Angelo Virgona and Scott Fanker to do likewise. Jan Whalan”. The same message was received by me on June 15th 2009 from Dr Angelo Virgona. The harassment of myself and others in the local community from the organisation’s client continued unabated until the end of July 2009. It also included calls made by the organisation’s client to the home phone of myself and others.
I believe that the foregoing indicates that the SSWAHS discriminated against me in my employment with them, and in my capacity to perform my clinical duties subsequently. I believe that the SSWAHS did not provide the safe working environment to myself usually expected by from an employer by an employee. In that they did not offer support to me when it was reported to them by other staff that the client of the organisation was seeking me “to blow my head off”. This threat was conveyed to me while I was in the presence of Dr Angelo Virgona. This stated threat was also repeated to my immediate line Manager Mr William Midson, and to Mr Scott Fanker and to Ms Belinda Woolley on more than one occasion.
An attempt by me to gain some personal duress security alarms for myself and my staff in about 2006 was terminated by Ms Jan Whalan. I was advised by Dr Angelo Virgona that the reason for not providing them was that Ms Jan Whalan reportedly said that every community based nurse would want access to one. The fact that Mr Scott Fanker also heard the client, with whom he was very familiar, recording defamatory and threatening comments about an elderly female staff member should have indicated to a senior executive member of the Mental Health Service that the client of the organisation presented a real danger to staff of the service. Yet nothing was done by SSWAHS to lessen that potential danger.
I believe that I have been diligent in reporting all threats of violence, real and potential, towards myself and other staff through the electronic incident monitoring and management system. There had been only one aggression reduction training session provided to the staff of the service. There has been no offer of a personal duress alarm system, given to community based mental health staff, which is provided routinely for all inpatient mental health staff. This I believe is discriminatory. The organisation’s client has provided evidence that he has improperly received details of a personal nature about me from within the organisation. The fact that the client himself identifies Mr Scott Fanker as the person with whom he was in most frequent contact, and whose opinions he has published in his blog postings, would suggest, on the balance of probability, that there was a possible disclosure from that senior Mental Health Executive member, thereby breaching my confidentiality.Since my termination from the SSWAHS I have been reported to the HCCC and to the NSW Nurses and Midwives Registration Board and the NSW Psychologists Registration Board by Ms Jan Whalan (Director for Corporate Services-SSWAHS). I have responded willingly to the HCCC and to the registrations boards and have been informed by them that they are satisfied that I remain a fit and proper person to practise my professions. However, the path to developing my private practice has been set with many hurdles, primarily due to the behaviour of the Area Health Service staff in dealing with the issues of staff safety, confidentiality and support.
The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to:
- inform you of those issues endemic in the mental health services in SSWAHS;
- seek an apology from SSWAHS for the emotional hurt and harm they have done to me and my professional reputation; and,
- address the shortcomings in the SSWAHS mental health service, particularly in this rural area.
Kevin O’Neill
