Cancer scandal grows: Skinner can’t dodge Special Commission of Inquiry any longer

MEDIA RELEASE - 20 September 2016

The Greens NSW health spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham today called on the NSW Government to support a Special Commission of Inquiry into the management of cancer treatment in NSW after a damning report revealed that the scandal has grown once again and serious clinical governance issues have been identified in the Western Local Health District.

“Every step of the way, Minister Skinner has sought to downplay this scandal, avoid responsibility and dodge a Special Commission of Inquiry which would ensure this widening scandal is thoroughly investigated,” Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said.

“At every juncture, this scandal as grown, more patients are impacted and the scope of the investigation has proved to be too narrow.

“That is why the Greens have been calling on Minister Skinner since March to establish a Special Commission of Inquiry with appropriate independence, protection of witnesses and powers to restore confidence in the NSW Health.

“The report released today has found serious and alarming clinical governance issues in the NSW Health system, including a failure to keep adequate records and important clinical protocols being ignored.

“The scandal has widened to at least 28 more people; a new review is being conducted at St Vincent’s and the limited nature of the inquiry means we have no idea how big this scandal really is.

“It is wrong for Minister Skinner to try to wash her hands of the actions of Dr Grygiel simply because he was a private practitioner, when the report makes it crystal clear that this is not just about one bad doctor; it is about the governance of the NSW Health system of which she is in charge.

“This has gone on long enough and if Minister Skinner refuses to support the establishment of Special Commission of Inquiry into this growing scandal then she should resign and Mike Baird should put a Minister in place that will,” said Mr Buckingham.

Contact: Max Phillips – 9230 2202 or 0419 444 916

4 comments

  • Should be under immediate investigation by the highest authority… theres so much evidence of political and medical misconduct within the current system…all to protect there own interests… instead of speaking for the peoples needs…transparency throughout this whole system is what the people want and deserve.. bout time they look like fools for misleading the public for 80 years..take ownership!

    Like

  • Decriminalise cannabis now and take treatment options from the greedy paws of big pharma.

    Like

  • Minister Skinner is a disgrace. A Health Minister with no Health background is a recipe for disaster and that is what we have seen here. This cancer scandal needs to be thoroughly investigated. And this politician needs to stand up and accept responsibility for her failures as easily as she puts her hand out for her pay packet. On her watch we have seen the gassing of babies.. the assault of the elderly in nursing homes .. medication errors being made by private doctors and the rejection of medical cannabis despite the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry … I agree that an Inquiry into the management of cancer treatment in NSW is long overdue by an INDEPENDENT body. In the mean time she should be put on the back bench where she can do “no further harm” to the public.

    Like

  • Methinks a full Inquiry into why natural cancer treatments, ie cannabis are not utilized where appropriate instead of the increasingly unaffordable and destructive current treatments???? Of course we all know the answer, the complete and utter corruption of our political system. And seemingly hardly a politician of any persuasion standing up to be counted. Thousands suffering and dying unnecessarily, and not a word. Now that’s sickness.

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Google+ photo

You are commenting using your Google+ account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s