Nurses hid patients from Dr Death, inquiry told

NURSES hid critically ill patients from an overzealous surgeon dubbed “Dr Death”, claiming he would stalk the intensive care unit searching for people to operate on, an inquiry in the Australian city of Brisbane was told yesterday.

“We were seeing these patients dying every day and we couldn’t do anything,” nurse Toni Hoffman said as she choked back tears.

“We just thought, what on earth could we possibly do to stop this man.”

Ms Hoffman was testifying at an official inquiry into how Jayant “Jay” Patel, 56, was allowed to practise medicine in Australia’s Queensland state, despite having been cited for gross negligence in the US states of Oregon and New York.

Queensland health officials have since linked Patel to the deaths of at least 67 patients during his two-year tenure at the rural Bundaberg Base Hospital, where he was hired in 2003.

The state premier, Peter Beattie, said further checks of hospital files had uncovered 20 more deaths related to the Indian-born doctor’s care. Ms Hoffman said Patel’s high level of complications led the nurses to take drastic action.

“We’d taken to hiding patients,” she said. “We’d taken to telling patients that they should ask to be transferred to Brisbane.”

Patel left Australia in April, and his whereabouts are unknown. He has not commented on the allegations against him, and has no legal representation at the proceedings.