Other Inquiries
The Queensland Government commissioned two other inquiries in addition to the Morris and Davies Inquiries. These inquiries possessed few judicial powers or ability to summon witnesses.
The Forster Inquiry, headed by Peter Forster, concentrated on the administrative structure of the Queensland Health bureaucracy, and how administrative procedures could be improved to ensure that similar events to those at Bundaberg Base Hospital would not occur again.
The other inquiry was an internal audit of Dr Patel's clinical and surgical practices by Queensland Health. On 30 June 2005, The Courier-Mail newspaper published details of this audit before it was due for public release. The newspaper reported that there were seven patient deaths that were likely to have been caused by Patel and seven more that warrant further investigation. There has been some criticism that this audit relied too heavily on patient notes written by Patel himself, or by other Bundaberg Base Hospital staff who could have been interested in covering up Dr Patel's poor standards or minimising the hospital's liability for patient trauma and death.
The State of Oregon Medical Board is also investigating Patel a second time, this time for stating that he had retired, whilst working full-time as chief of surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital, as well as lying to Kaiser Permanente about his previous disciplinary actions in New York state. Patel appeared before the state board in September 2005, but declined to answer questions, owing to possible criminal charges in Australia. On 6 October 2005, the Board voted unanimously to issue a formal complaint against Patel. Disciplinary action against the doctor can include a fine of up to US$ 5,000 and revocation of his medical license.
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