The dangerous disposal of hazardous substances including liquid uranium and contaminated objects, the dumping of the confidential records of patients and the mishandling of asbestos have exposed a culture of mismanagement in Sydney hospitals.
A former NSW health contractor turned whistleblower is alleging that a lack of proper procedures and controls has led to breaches of state regulations at Royal North Shore Hospital, and serious compliance issues in several other hospitals.
Radioactive materials and liquid uranium that had been abandoned in a former research laboratory. Mr Clare said two workers were told by senior hospital staff to wash it down the sink;
Private patient records dumped in non-secure areas of Royal North Shore Hospital;
Hazardous chemicals, human tissue samples and contaminated sharps scattered around;
Piles of asbestos next to a rusted airconditioning unit on the 12th floor at Royal North Shore Hospital;
Asbestos contamination problems at the former Callan Park mental hospital in Rozelle.
The Sun-Herald has obtained a dossier of photographs and reports Mr Clare said he provided to health officials documenting the incidents as each hospital project was undertaken.
The Sun-Herald has also obtained an internal review dated 2008, prepared for the former Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service (now Northern Sydney Local Health District), which takes in Royal North Shore Hospital, advising there were serious problems with the storage of patient medical records, constituting a breach of state record laws.
The document,
Archiving - Preliminary Report, warned that ''in some departments patient records are held in insecure storage'' and ''certain areas where records are stored on hospital or health centre sites are unsuitable for the purpose - the ramifications of this could be serious''.
It also advised that there is ''no standard records management process across the area'' and ''archiving methods and procedures … do not meet state records legislation requirements''.
