The head of Hervey Bay Hospital’s ICU has been disciplined after complaints from co-workers as his history of calling out Queensland Health over pressure on under-resourced doctors is revealed.
The two female doctors, including one who resigned in response to her bosses’ “bullying”, had complained about the way they were treated and spoken to by Clinical Director of the Intensive Care Unit, Dr Raju Pusapati.
Dr Puspati believed he was being targeted by his own health chiefs for speaking out over staffing and bed shortages and appealed against a decision by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission which had found he “displayed inappropriate, offensive and aggressive behaviours towards subordinate medical officers” within the unit.
Industrial Commissioner Jacqueline Power has since reviewed the decision that was handed down last year.
According to court documents, the saga started when, On April 14, 2022, Robyn Bradley, Acting Chief Executive of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, issued a disciplinary finding letter to Dr Pusapati advising an allegation had been substantiated on the balance of probabilities.
Ms Bradley further informed Dr Pusapati that serious consideration was being given to imposing the disciplinary action of removing him from the Clinical Director position and subsequential change of duties.
On May 22, Dr Pusapati filed an appeal against the decision arguing “the disciplinary finding and proposed disciplinary action are grossly unfair and unjustified”.
Dr Raju Pusapati, Clinical Director of the Intensive Care Unit, appealed against a decision made against him by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
Dr Pusaputi also stated: “these direct threats, vexatious allegations and findings are a deliberate attempt to harass the senior clinicians in Hervey Bay Hospital and deter them from holding the WBHHS accountable in a transparent manner regarding several longstanding administrative mismanagements that are directly causing patient harm, staff fatigue and burnout, as well as financial inefficiency”.
In 2021, Dr Pusaputi shared his concerns about bed shortages and critical staff shortages while speaking to this publication at a union-led rally outside the hospital.
He had been on leave twice because of burnout during his six years at Hervey Bay Hospital and said he was overworked.
Hervey Bay Hospital. Photo: Alistair Brightman
At the time, the hospital was in a semi-constant state of Code Yellow, meaning it was overcrowded and elective surgeries had to be postponed because of the lack of capacity.
Dr Pusaputi told the Chronicle at the time he worried constantly about his patients.
“Absolutely, all the time,” he said.
Queensland Health rejected in its response to the doctor’s court claims that the complaints made against him were deliberate threats.
“The WBHHS is not engaging in systematic bullying of the ICU clinical team and is evident by the fact one of the complainants was a member of the ICU clinical team,” the documents read.
“The WBHHS is attempting to correct inappropriate conduct in the workplace and given the Appellant‘s ongoing inability to have any insight into his conduct, the Appellant continues to perpetrate acts of aggressive, inappropriate and improper communication in his official capacity.”
The complaints related to two staff members at Hervey Bay Hospital.
Dr June Blundell, a registrar, had made a complaint about an incident on September 21, 2021, according to the documents.
She had attended the hospital to discuss the ICU Pandemic Plan and to follow up on who within ICU would be taking the lead on liaising with the medical administration team on the pandemic response plan.
Dr Blundell said Dr Pusapati had entered the room and was “clearly angry”.
According to the documents, Dr Blundell alleged Dr Pusapati stood close to her, giving the impression of standing over her, and grabbed her ID card, which was at her waist before speaking aggressively to her.
It was then explained to Dr Blundell, the ICU had received a letter regarding the ICU and Clinical Service‘s Capability Framework capability, the documents read.
Dr Blundell said she explained politely and empathetically, she was unaware of a letter being sent and was only there to talk about the pandemic plan.
Dr Blundell alleged Dr Pusapati again became agitated and stated, “The premier has said there is no issue with the pandemic, so we don’t need a pandemic plan”.
‘The only reason I felt safe was due to the presence; and protection by Dr Ganju who advocated for me effectively in this interaction. Dr Pusapati behaved in a manner which clearly could be perceived as intimidating and aggressive,” Dr Blundell’s statement to the court read
“In hindsight, this behaviour is, in my opinion, extremely unbecoming in a professional, is intimidating and threatening. This has impacted on my ability to perform my role due to the way in which this limits my ability to walk into the ICU and feel safe while on a round of the departments.”
In response to the allegations, Dr Pusapati said he had made an incorrect assumption about the reason for Dr Blundell’s attendance in Dr Ganju’s office.
He admitted standing close to Dr Blundell but said that was because of the cramped office space.
He did not recall reaching out and grabbing her ID but acknowledged it was possible he sought to identify Dr Blundell from her ID card as he was not confident of her name at the time.
According to the documents, Dr Pusapati had asked Dr Blundell’s manager to apologise on his behalf, but it was submitted that the indirect apology was not an appropriate apology.
Further concerns were raised by a second doctor at the hospital.
Dr Shristi Shah worked under Dr Pusapati’s supervision from June to September 2021.
She raised numerous issues, including Dr Pusapati shouting and scolding her “in front of everyone” for not writing the name of the associated consultant name in an admission form.
Dr Shah also told of how, having successfully completed her work based assessment she had been in the process of submitting an application to get general registration from APHRA, which would allow her to apply for permanent residency.
The application also meant she had to get work performance reports from her current supervisor.
Dr Shah detailed in the documents how she had attempted to discuss the form with Dr Pusapati on several occasions.
“When he came to the ICU an hour later, I reminded him of the form,” the documents read
“He said that he will do that a bit later, so I stayed around in ICU and joined them in handover.
“All of a sudden and in the middle of the handover he told me in front of everyone that if I am waiting for that APHRA form then it will not be done today. Moreover, saying that he was not willing to be my supervisor, he claimed that he had no idea why he was my supervisor.
“Asking why I needed to complete the form with him, he questioned, is it that super urgent as if I am losing my registration tomorrow?
“I was completely shocked and am very much hurt by his response.
“The completion of WPR may not be urgent for him, but it is critical for me and for my professional development.
Hervey Bay Hospital.
“I am wondering, why he consented to be my supervisor in the first place?
“From the onset, I was never asking him to complete the form right away.
“Rather I was seeking a few minutes of his time to complete the WPR with him and get genuine feedback, which I did not get in the previous one.”
Dr Shah said she felt her hard work had not been appreciated and she had been subjected to bullying and harassment for no reason, according to the documents.
On the November 21, 2021, Dr Shah tendered her resignation, citing “due to unprofessional behaviour of one of the consultants (you) on multiple occasions while working at department of ICU, Hervey Bay Hospital. This has affected my mental wellbeing and hence, I am not ready to work in the same environment for next year as well”.
In his appeal, Dr Pusapati submitted to the decision maker that while he was genuinely apologetic to Dr Shah if she felt unfairly treated by him during her time in ICU, he had never been discriminatory or consciously unreasonable in his interactions with her.
For his failure to meet her request regarding the form the court found however that “at best the Appellant’s conduct showed complete indifference to Dr Shah’s request and at worst appears to be a misuse of authority in a context involving a significant power imbalance”.
“As a senior practitioner the Appellant was undoubtedly aware of the importance of the AHPRA document and would have understood that Dr Shah had limited other options if he chose to continue to delay completing the form”.
Ms Bradley determined that on the basis of her findings in relation to the allegation, the Appellant was guilty of misconduct, that is inappropriate or improper conduct in an official capacity between February and October 2021.
The documents read that while Dr Pusapati submitted that his communication style had been “professional, humane, patient focused”, it was open to Ms Bradley on the evidence of the Appellant’s communication style with Dr Blundell and Dr Shah to not accept this submission”.
“Based on the information before me, I am satisfied that the decision is fair and reasonable in the circumstances,” Ms Power wrote.
The decision appealed against was confirmed.