HealthQuest

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HealthQuest is the New South Wales government medical office, situated at 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney.

On HealthQuest's website it is reported that HealthQuest is a statutory corporation which reports to the N.S.W. Minister for Health. It is said to be a self-funded, not for profit organization providing occupational health services to both government and private sector employees.

The HealthQuest Board is made up of six members:

Dr Ian R Gardner - Occupational Physician

Mr Wayne Cahill - Solicitor

Mr Terrence Hannan - Representative of the Labour Council of NSW

Mr Richard Persson - Chairman for HealthQuest/Administrator Warringah council.

Ms Rosemary Milkins - Health NSW Senior Executive

The CEO of HealthQuest is Alison Viney, Solicitor and now magistrate.

Source: HealthQuest's website:

http://www.healthquest.gov.au/about_us.htm

HealthQuest has a troubled history. Set up years ago to replace the Medical and Immunisation Centre, during its better known times it was headed by Dr Helia Gapper, Government Medical Officer, and Dr Helen Jagger. Dr Gapper's qualification consists of a medical degree and a Certificate in Public Health (England). She is not a specialist.

Government departments were required to pay for the services supplied by HealthQuest. As a result, they had an expectation that their wishes regarding the employee would be adhered to.

The June 2005 Newsletter of HealthQuest, which is aimed at employers in the government sector, contains this sinister sounding statement by Alison Viney:

"To ensure you are obtaining the services you need from HealthQuest and to discuss those occupational health issues which just will not go away at all, clients are being contacted to arrange a meeting time with our CEO Alison Viney, please take this opportunity to ensure you are getting the most out of your occupational health provider. In addition over the last 12 months our CEO has addressed larger groups of HR managers. Topics of interest have included Getting the Most from your HealthQuest Referral, What Happens at the HealthQuest Examination and When is the Right Time to Refer to HealthQuest?"

Source: HealthQuest's June 2005 Annual Report.

Over the years concerns were raised by whistleblowers that HealthQuest was being used as a tool to have them dismissed from their employment by means of bogus 'retirement certificates' citing obscure conditions such as 'borderline personality disorder', 'adjustment disorder', 'cognitive dysfunction', 'disthymia' and even in one case, 'schizophrenia'. The false diagnosis of schizophrenia was very common in Soviet Russia. Although Dr Gapper and Dr Jagger had no qualifications in psychiatry they signed these certificates. Neither Gapper nor Jagger ever actually saw any of the HealthQuest victims.

On the following website actual documents issued by HealthQuest can be found:

wbde.org

There was a "Medical Appeals Panel" but when one government employee who had raised concerns in the workplace about safety and was sent to HealthQuest where he was certified with a condition which he did not have attempted to find out who was on the panel, it was discovered there were no panel members. No panel ever met. The victim had no right to appear before the non-existent panel. The "Medical Appeals Panel" was just there to rubber-stamp the HealthQuest decision.

Questions were raised in N.S.W. Parliament about HealthQuest on several occasions. Dr Pezzutti was one member of Parliament who asked pertinent questions about HealthQuest's activities.

In late 1997 a large number of HealthQuest victims had found each other and began to protest outside Parliament and outside the HealthQuest building itself. As well, in early 1998, a protest was held outside the N.S.W. Teachers Federation, which has supported HealthQuest decisions over the years and has given its members misinformation regarding the integrity of past HealthQuest psychologists and psychiatrists. The Public Service Association is another union which has failed to warn its members about HealthQuest in past years.

A very well known HealthQuest activist is Gerard Crewdson, an employee of the Department of Disability and Home Care, who raised questions and concerns about the mistreatment of disabled people in a group home. He was sent to HealthQuest where he was declared to be unfit for work as a means of removing him from the workplace.

For information about the many cases Mr Crewdson has brought to court, being self-represented, over the past nine years see the Austlii website:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/

Mr Crewdson is a graduate of the School of Architecture at Wellington University, an artist and jazz musician. He has been at the forefront of the fight to have the courts make findings favourable to HealthQuest victims and not always findings favourable to the N.S.W. government.

HealthQuest victims organized publicity about their plight through the media in 1997-1998. Coverage was given by the Sun Herald (reporter Sue Williams) and Channel 7 (A Current Affair). Fresh complaints were made to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Health Care Complaints Commission. Previously these two bodies had rejected all HealthQuest complaints but under pressure and having been exposed by the media, they finally took the complaints seriously. Dr Gapper and Dr Jagger were made to answer questions before an I.C.A.C. inquiry. Hadi Stambouliah, HealthQuest psychologist, whose report was used to certify that one activist had 'cognitive dysfunction', was put on trial by the Psychologists Registration Board. The victim gave evidence but the trial was held in secret. No members of the public were allowed in. Stambouliah was found not guilty. Gapper, Jagger and Stambouliah no longer work at HealthQuest. Dr Jagger has been promoted within the N.S.W. health system. Dr Gapper has disappeared and is probably no longer in Australia. Stambouliah runs a private clinic.

The C.E.O. of HealthQuest, Alison Viney, has been made a magistrate.

The I.C.A.C. oversaw an inquiry into HealthQuest practices and a report was produced called the Lowe Report which basically demanded that HealthQuest become more transparent.

HealthQuest victims had hoped for criminal charges to be laid against the doctors involved in the corrupt behaviour but this has never happened. It seems HealthQuest is untouchable.

As a result of the Lowe Report, HealthQuest underwent some cosmetic changes. But as recently as 2004, a public servant was certified unfit despite certificates of fitness provided by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service. The person appealed to the Medical Appeals Panel immediately. They were not informed how long the appeal would take. This has been a tactic used by the Panel in the past: an appeal could take a week to decide, or a year but the appellant is given no information. The person wrote to the Medical Appeals Panel stating that the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service was organizing an extensive assessment which would be provided to the Panel within three weeks. The assessment, which showed the person was fit for work, was posted to the Panel and on the very same day that they received the assessment, they wrote to the appellant stating that he appeal was over, but that the report had been placed on their file. The current members of the Medical Appeals Panel are not known.

The doctor in charge of HealthQuest at that time was Dr Armand Casolin. He continued to deny the public servant employment by making statements that he found the person 'unfit' although he had never met the person and by refusing a CRS request that the person be re-assessed or that the appeal be re-opened to include the new report. This person underwent several HealthQuest assessments, at all of which they were found to be fit after examination by general practitioners, but Dr Casolin over-ruled the findings.

Dr Casolin left HealthQuest and was replaced by Dr Peter Dodwell. High hopes were held for Dr Dodwell by HealthQuest activists. He had no history of dodgy assessments in his home country, New Zealand. However he continued to refuse to certify that the public servant mentioned above was fit. Under pressure to do something, he stated that a 'proper assessment' including examination by psychiatrists and psychologists would cost around $3,000. There were no reports in recent history that this person had any kind of mental illness. In fact their recent work history had been unblemished. Eventually he did reluctantly find the person provisionally fit but made a defamatory comment about their health which makes them unemployable. He then reported the person to the police for allegedly publishing material detrimental to HealthQuest and requested the Medical Defence Board prosecute the person.

Several complaints have been made to the Health Care Complaints Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption about Dr Dodwell recently. However these bodies have shown in the past that they are somewhat unwilling to make findings against HealthQuest.

It seems that HealthQuest will continue to operate as it has always done, and that nothing ever changes. Neither the Universal Declaration of Human Rights nor the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights means anything in New South Wales.