Published: 29 August, 2013
by ANDREW JOHNSON

THE chief of an Australian hospital which became embroiled in a data-fixing scandal last year has been appointed to a senior role at the embattled Whittington Hospital in Highgate.

Lee Martin quit his post as director general of Canberra Hospital in February and returned to his native Britain.

His resignation followed revelations in April 2012 that a senior executive at the hospital tampered with the records of 11,700 emergency department patients between 2009 and 2012 to make it look as if they had been treated quicker than they actually had been.

Average waiting times for some treatments fell from 89 minutes to 28 minutes as a result.

But the falsifying came to light because of the round numbers of many of the waiting times – many were exactly 30 minutes or 60 minutes.

Kate Jackson, executive director of critical care, who admitted falsifying the statistics, told an investigation she blamed the “environment” at the hospital. She “felt fearful for myself and for other people that I work with”.

The inquiry found that the data tampering was the work of more than one person. The scandal led to public hearings before Canberra’s Public Accounts Committee, which were attended by Mr Martin. There is no suggestion he was aware of or had been involved in the data rigging.

According to the Australian CityNews.com website: “Mr Martin could not confirm or deny he was the supervisor mentioned in the disgraced executive’s statement in the report by the auditor-general, who she believed was putting intense pressure on her to improve performance data.”

Mr Martin, who was on sick leave for six months before quitting, said: “It’s not that black or white… people can interpret things I say differently compared to others.”

The hospital’s head, Dr Peggy Brown, did “admit there had been complaints about Mr Martin’s managerial style from other employees, but they had been addressed”, the article added.

Dr Yi Mien Koh, chief executive of Whittington Health, said: “The trust was aware of Lee Martin’s position in Canberra and the data issues at the hospital. These started prior to his appointment in Canberra. Once Lee became aware of the situation, he requested an external review.

“He has extensive knowledge and experience of health service management in hospitals and integrated care organisations.”