SSWAHS - Dr Victor Storm and the NSW Ombudsman's response

Socrates understands that the Southern Highlands complainant did everything requested by the NSW Ombudsman's office to try and deal with his complaints by referring them to the CEO of SSWAHS, Mr Mike Wallace, and Ms Carmel Tebbutt MP, NSW Minister for Health. With no response after 6 months what else can the complainant do but respond to the NSW Ombudsman's office and say "sorry, no response! How long should one wait?"

Following the sending of the following letter a very unsettling telephone conversation followed from a woman in the NSW Ombudsman's office. It went something along the lines of: "Although you might have a legitimate complaint against SSWAHS you no longer work for them and we have to use our limited resources on more important complaints." Okay, so what could be more important than serious complaints about senior executive staff of an Area Health Service like SSWAHS. One has to wonder whether someone higher up the food chain has leaned upon a statutory authority like the Ombudsman's Office.

Team Leader

Community Services Division

NSW Ombudsman

Level 24, 580 George Street

Sydney NSW 2000

12 April 2010

Your ref: C/2009/7806

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: My complaint about the Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS)

I refer to my earlier correspondence and complaint lodged with the NSW Ombudsman on the 5^th and 9^th November 2009.

Having followed the recommendation provided by your office in its response from Kim Kenny on 12 November 2009 I communicated my complaints about officers in SSWAHS to the CEO of Health NSW and to the CEO of SSWAHS I have remained awaiting some informed response for the past six months. I understand that the CEO of SSWAHS has indicated that a Mr Graeme Slade would provide me with a written response upon the completion of any investigation. To date there has been no further communication from SSWAHS and nor has Mr Slade spoken with me.

I also wrote to Ms Carmel Tebbutt MP (Minister for Health), and Mrs Barbara Perry MP (Minister assisting the Minister for Health – Mental Health and Cancer) on 4 November 2009 in which I made comments about the same and similar complaints. To date I have not even received an acknowledgement of the receipt of the letters nor, obviously, any action they may have taken. In regard to the letters of complaint I was advised to forward to the CEO of Health NSW again I received no acknowledgement that they had even been received or actioned.

On 23 December 2009 I did receive a brief response from one of the persons about whom I had complained. The content of the letter from Dr Victor Storm did not demonstrate any transparency nor did it suggest that anything was done differently to that which he advised he would do in May 2009. I gained no confidence from the content of Dr Storm’s letter of 23 December 2009 that the matter of my complaint had been fully investigated objectively.

I have enclosed copies of my complaint and the responses in the hope that the NSW Ombudsman will consider the outcome worthy of further investigation.

Yours sincerely,

Kevin O’Neill

Socrates simply offers the above for your information. You be the judge!

Dr Victor Storm - SSWAHS - Complaint to NSW Ombudsman

Socrates continues to be the public voice of this complainant who stills 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: Dr Victor Storm – Clinical Director, Mental Health Services – Sydney South West AHS

Please give details of your complaint:

1. On February 24^th, 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.
   
2. 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.
3. It would appear (perhaps by his own admission) that this protocol was not followed by Dr Storm.
   
4. On April 30^th 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 4^th(the day of my termination) 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.”
   
5. 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.”
   
6. To the current date I had no further response from Dr Storm as to the outcome of his enquiries. 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 Dr Storm and the SSWAHS for the delay in his/its investigation of my complaint.
   
2. An independent review of the complaint that I made against Mr Scott Fanker and the conflict of interest and improper conduct of his investigation of allegations made against me by a client of the organisation.
   
3. An explanation from Dr Storm as to why he failed to implement usual NSW Health protocol for dealing with complaints, that is, electronic documentation and lodgement, and review by independent persons within the organisation of SSWAHS.
   
4. I have attached copies of the original letter of complaint (Feb 2009); my follow-up email and Dr Storm’s emailed letter of May 2009.
5. The letter of complaint indicated that in my view Mr Scott Fanker engaged in an investigative interview on 22 December 2008 with a perceived (if not actual) conflict of interest.

• In that he had an abnormal relationship with the client who had made a complaint against me.
  
• On 11 December 2008 the client indicated that he had a relationship with Mr Fanker that was more therapist/client, than that of Operations Manager-SSWAHS/complainant.
  
• The client indicated in an email that by that date he’d had over 30 hours of conversation with Mr Fanker and he described Mr Fanker as his “unpaid therapist”.
  

• It is my belief that Mr Fanker should have withdrawn from the investigative process on 22 December and that the investigation was compromised by his inappropriate association with the client.
• It was only at my insistence that, at a second interview on 19 February 2009, Mr Fanker withdrew from the investigative process. My reasons for that request were made perfectly clear to Miss Belinda Woolley, Senior Legal Officer – SSWAHS, on that day.
  

Your details: Kevin O’Neill

2 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!

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!

SSWAHS - Ms Jan Whalan - Complaint to the NSW Ombudsman

Socrates continues to be the public voice of this complainant who stills 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: Ms Jan Whalan –Director of Corporate Services – Sydney South West Area Health Service

Please give details of your complaint:

1. On 20 March 2009 I received at my home an email with attached letter from Ms Jan Whalan, informing me that the Area Health Service had been forwarded an email that threatened my life, the lives of other community members and members of my family. In her letter Ms Whalan indicated that she felt the threat was real enough that she informed the local police, and was encouraged by them to inform me and others to take the action by personally reporting the matter to the police. The police took the view that a client of the SSWAHS organisation was the author of the threat.
   
2. Between December 4^th 2008 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 eventually simply forwarded on by others and I to the key senior Executive members of the SSWAHS already involved an investigation of the client’s allegations. This was an attempt on my part to alert the organisation that the activities of their client remained harassing and threatening to me and others in the community.
   
3. The only response came from Ms Jan Whalan, Director of Corporate Services – SSWAHS who, on June 9^th 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”.
   
4. The same message was received by me on June 15^th 2009 from Dr Angelo Virgona.
   
5. The harassment of me 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.
6. 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.
   
7. 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 (Operations Manager, S-W Cluster Area Mental Health – SSWAHS) 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.
   
8. 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 just 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.
   
9. While the SSWAHS might suggest that they had an obligation to inform the Boards of the outcome of their investigation, they did not do so until seven days after my termination. That action by Ms Whalan has produced an outcome that has seriously hindered my capacity to develop meaningful employment in my professions in both the public and private health sectors.

What happened after you complained to the agency? My employment was terminated by SSWAHS.

What do you want to happen for your complaint to be resolved?

1. An apology from Ms Whalan and the SSWAHS for their refusal to ensure the safety of an employee of the Area Health Service.
   
2. An independent review of the complaint that I made against Mr Scott Fanker and his conflict of interest and improper conduct in his inappropriate relationship with the client of the organisation during his investigation of allegations made against me by that client.
   
3. An explanation from Ms Whalan as to why she knowingly failed to implement usual NSW Health protocol for dealing with aggression from clients directed towards employees of the organisation, that is, her refusal to accept the proof of that aggression when it was forwarded to her for appropriate action. I have attached copies of Ms Whalan’s letter (20 March 2009) and the client’s threatening email.

Your details: Kevin O’Neill

2 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!

SSWAHS and it's own internal investigations - is that really "governance"?

It's been said about many government departments that the practice of the organisation investigating complaints about it's own senior or other staff is open to abuse. Try referring the complaint to the government watchdog - the Ombudsman's office - and you will simply get a response like "you don't appear to have asked the Area Health Service or the Department to investigate the matter". There is generally a suggestion that you send the issue to the CEO of the organisation or Department (or both) and wait for a response. When a non-response or disputable response comes back, the Ombudsman's office simply suggests that they don't wish to use their scarce resources on such matters. Sound like a brush-off? Well it really happened that way earlier this year. So the question needs to be asked if the Ombudsman's office is really structured to protect the public interest.

On 24 February 2009 a complaint was lodged with a Clinical Director of one of SSWAHS clinical streams. The complaint raised a number of issues related to the perceived conflict of interest and improper conduct by a senior administrator who carried out an investigation in which the administrator appeared to have an inappropriate relationship with the person making a complaint about a SSWAHS service and personnel.

The SSWAHS Clinical Director did not follow usual protocol when receiving the complaint of conflict of interest and improper conduct, instead they ignored it until they were reminded of it on 30th April. On 4th May the Clinical Director wrote to the complainant stating "please be advised that Mr .... has been provided with a copy of your complaint and is being given an opportunity to respond." That was followed by deafening silence until the matter was raised again by a direct approach to the SSWAHS CEO. I wonder how many staff of the SSWAHS get the opportunity to read the complaint made against them and are given the chance to just ignore it? The final comment of the Clinical Director in his 4th May response was: "I will inform you of the outcome of my enquiries, in due course."

The eventual outcome was that the Clinical Director did respond - in December 2009, at which time he repeated that the complaint had been investigated by the person being complained about and they had convinced the Clinical Director that they had not breached the NSW Health Code of Conduct. Oh really?! Perhaps we can save a lot of time and money by simply asking people committing illegal acts if they would like to investigate themselves and determine what sentence they'd like to impose on themselves. Think of the police, judicial and corrective service savings the community would gain. Perhaps the savings could be applied to upgrading Bowral Hospital to reflect the age and growth of the Highlands population.

Anyone can view the NSW Health Code of Conduct on their website. One thing it states is that complaints must be dealt in a transparent and timely manner. Yes SSWAHS, that sounds like the way it was done, doesn't it!