Independent inquiry begins at Cairns Hospital after doctors talk to media about Ebola scare

INDEPENDENT experts have started determining whether the response by Cairns Hospital to its recent Ebola scare was appropriate. The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has confirmed its review into the handling of nurse Sue-Ellen Kovack three weeks ago has begun. Ms Kovack, 57, was admitted to the hospital earlier this month after coming down with a low-grade fever soon after returning from aid work among Ebola victims in Sierra Leone. She was released from the hospital after testing negative twice for the virus. The health service, however, was criticised by some of its own medical staff who claimed the service’s response to the scare was “bizarre”, including the decision by Queensland Health to test her in the busiest part of the hospital, which handles some of the “most vulnerable” patients. The health service’s CEO Julie Hartley-Jones said the Department of Health had commissioned an independent panel to review the handling of the recent infectious disease case. “This review has begun and does not include representation from the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service,’’ she said. Health unions and medical associations blasted the service for its decision to suspend the doctors, saying the two senior medicos would be impossible to replace in the short term. Premier Campbell Newman also called upon the health service to further explain why the suspensions occurred. Ms Hartley-Jones said there had not been any loss of service as a result of the decision to stand the two doctors down, pending the outcome of an internal review. Dr Roxanne Wu, president of the Cairns district’s Senior Medical Staff Association, said the association was giving the health service an opportunity to be fair in its review process. “We are still waiting for the outcome,’’ she said. “We are being given an opportunity to make a submission, as are the doctors. “I think they’re still in a situation where they’re hoping it’s all fair and square.”