Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, ACM, DIMIA & the Detainee (2002)

by Pamela Curr

 

When “detainees” are admitted to hospital, they do not become patients – they stay detainees but with even less rights than in a detention centre. Hospitals explain that the hospital becomes a “quasi-detention centre” or “is designated as a detention centre” and the guards have “jurisdiction” over the patients. These are the explanations advanced to questions as to why it is that a person whom you have been able to visit in a detention centre, once in hospital is unable to have visitors or receive phone calls.

Please read the account of 3 women who tried to visit and pass messages of support to Roqia.

 

H.P. writes….
Today,Wednesday 30th July, 2 other women, my 10 year old daughter and I went to visit Roqia Bakhtiyari at the Women’s and Children’s hospital in Adelaide. Maybe I should go back just a little bit before continuing this story – yesterday, when I found out that Roqia had gone into labour and was being airlifted to a hospital in Adelaide at about 11.30 in the morning, I straight away rang the Women’s and Children’s to see if they were expecting her there. Obviously they hadn’t been told to shut their mouths yet, as the nurse I spoke to said straightaway that they were expecting her, and asked me if I knew her ETA ( estimated time of arrival ). Once I knew that was where she was going, and after talking to a few other women involved in the case, we all decided that it would be a nice action to send her flowers at the hospital, to let her know that we cared, and to also ask everyone we knew to do the same. So I spent all day yesterday ringing my extensive network, whilst the other women involved did the same, all of us hoping that her room would be filled with flowers.

And now we come to today. Today I and two other women with my 10 year old daughter went to see if we could at best see Roquia, and at worst try to ensure that she was receiving her flowers. We asked at general reception where she might be, and were told by a woman who was a very bad liar, that no such person existed, and had never existed in the hospital, and that they were sending all the flowers back to the people who had sent them, as they had no idea where she was. I tried to appeal to her humanity and as a woman, and she kept denying, and looking very redfaced. So we went upstairs to the postnatal centre on level 3, and looked inside the intensive care unit – too long. Word was obviously sent and the doors closed in front of us. All of us realised then that we’d been a split second from being in the ward where Roquia was. So we went to the 3rd floor reception, and asked where Roquia was. Sandi was initially very helpful and nice, ringing up to find out where she was, and got put through to the PR section. We heard her ask “why am I talking to you?” and then she was told in no uncertain terms why she was talking to them, and to keep the cone of silence. Her manner changed abruptly, and she told us Roquia had never been there, and was not there now. While one of the women I was with rang Roquia’s lawyer to let them know what was happening and the treatment we were getting, I wandered down the hall with my daughter and asked at another reception desk. I decided to cut through the crap and tell the woman that she wouldn’t find Roquia’s name and I wasn’t meant to know that she was there, but I knew she was, and appealed to her as a woman and mother, and she was about to open up, when 3 Chubb security guards walked up and pulled her aside, asked her who I was asking for, what my name was – the poor woman was a bit taken aback. They then asked me who I was looking for, I told them, they said she wasn’t there and I had no right to be there if I wasn’t there to see someone who actually existed, escorted me back to my friends, and asked us all to leave. We all tried to appeal to his humanity. His name was Angelo. We asked him how he could stand by and let this happen, told him we only wanted to make sure she was allright and getting her flowers, but he told us twice to leave now, and on the third time informed us he was calling the police. We agreed to leave, and he escorted us all the way to the front door. We all started getting a bit vocal then, asking people where their compassion was, asking them why their jobs were so damn important, and the collusive energy of guilt and embarassment was stunning. I realised then that a lot of people in that hospital know what is happening, and are letting it happen.

This all took place in a period of 20 minutes. This raises all sorts of issues about the Women’s and Children’s hospital. What about duty of care? Why can’t a patient receive flowers? Why can’t a patient receive visitors? What sort of care is she receiving? How is she? I believe it’s imperative for as many people as can make it to turn up to the Family Court at 10.30 on
Friday 1st of August and support Roquia and her family, and denounce the atrocious treatment she and her family (indeed all refugees!) have been given. We can’t quite help ourselves can we? First we commit genocide on the original occupants of this land, and now as boat people we’re trying to do it to the boat people we don’t like. I’ve never before been so ashamed of being an Australian…… H.P.

 

Doctors at the Royal Adelaide reported recently that guards told them that they must ask permission before attending a patient. These doctors were so enraged at the demands of the guards and the fact that their patient had developed peritonitis because his condition had been ignored for 4 days at Baxter, so that bey the time he was operated on – his appendix had burst releasing pus into his abdominal cavity causing peritonitis, that they wanted to speak to the media to expose the lack of care. However before doing so they consulted the Professor of their unit who pointed out the difficulties which might be occasioned for them. The culture of silence prevailed.

 

This is not the first time-it is the rule in hospitals in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. In Perth when Fatima lay dying – friends were blocked from visiting, denied even a moment to comfort her husband.

 

It is time that Doctors and Nurses and Hospital administrations remembered their duty of care to their patients and stopped collaborating with ACM and DIMIA. Why shouldn’t detainees (awful word) have visitors and phone calls and even flowers?

 

We can act. Write to the Australian Nurses Federation, to the Australian Medical Association, Commonwealth Ombudsman’s Office and any one else who might have a conscience asking them to investigate and draw up a protocol if one does not exist expressly detailing the rights of detainees and the responsibilities which doctors nurses and hospitals have to deliver a high standard of care, respecting that the patients needs are paramount and that ACM guards do not have jurisdiction over the care of these patients.

 

People to write to:

 

Ms Jill Illife, Federal Secretary
Australian Nursing Federation
Level 2, 21 Victoria Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
web: http://www.anf.org.au/
email via info officer: cathy@anf.org.au
Tel. 61 3 9639 5211
Fax. 61 3 9652 0567

Dr. Kate Stockhausen, Acting Director, Public Health & Ethics Department
Dr. Robert Bain, Secretary General
Australian Medical Association
PO Box E115
KINGSTON ACT 2604
TEL +61 2 6270 5400 · FAX +61 2 6270 5499
EMAIL ama@ama.com.au
http://www.anf.org.au/