SSWAHS - Mr Scott Fanker - Complaint to NSW Ombudsman

Socrates continues to be the public voice of this complainant who still awaits any response, formal or informal, from the Executive of the Sydney South West Area Health Service.

NSW Ombudsman
Complaints Form

Details of Complaint

Which Agency or Person: NSW State Government Agencies

Have you approached the agency or person? Yes

Please name the agency involved: Mr Scott Fanker – Operations Manager, S-W Cluster, Mental Health Services – Sydney South West Area Health Service

Please give details of your complaint:

1. In regard to the failure of the organisation to exercise due diligence to protect their staff: During early 2008 a client (PK) of the SSWAHS organisation provided the Bowral 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.
2. It was shown to the Clinical Director, Mental Health S-W Cluster, Dr Angelo Virgona, whose only response was to laugh.
3. On December 22, 2008 I provided the Operations Manager Mental Health S-W 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 Bowral Mental Health rehabilitation unit). To date no action has been taken to provide advice or support by the organisation to that staff member.
4. On the same date (December 22^nd), 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?”
5. 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”.
6. 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”.
7. 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.
   
8. On Monday, January 12^th 2009 I spoke with Mr Scott Fanker about a blog posting by the client which was titled “O’Neill” and dated Sunday 11^th 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.

What happened after you complained to the agency? My employment with the SSWAHS was terminated.
What do you want to happen for your complaint to be resolved?

1. An apology from Mr Fanker and the SSWAHS for the delay in his/its investigation of my complaint about the lack of support for, and protection of, its staff.
2. An independent review of the complaint that I made about the lack of support and protection for staff of the Bowral Community Mental Health Service.
3. An explanation from Mr Fanker as to why he failed to implement usual NSW Health protocol for dealing with aggression directed towards staff employed within the organisation of SSWAHS.

I have attached copies of the original transcript (Dec 2008); and my original questions posed to Mr Fanker, which have to date, remained unanswered.

Your details: Kevin O’Neill

5 November 2009
Socrates makes no comment upon this complaint except to say that one has to wonder why SSWAHS has failed to act on this long overdue complaint. You be the judge!