A copy of a letter I wrote on the 22nd of June 2007 for a soldier who lost his career, after questionable treatment by ASPEN Medical Services in East Timor.
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To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Medical care by ASPEN Medical Services in East Timor late 2006.
I was the uniformed ADF Medical Officer on Operation Astute in Timor Leste from early October 2006 until mid February 2007. I was in charge of the helicopter aeromedical evacuation team, and my role was limited to the stabilisation and retrieval of sick and injured ADF personnel.
Nevertheless, when medics or soldiers were unhappy with the medical care provided by ASPEN Medical Services I was often approached to help resolve the issue. In the case of PTE X, the medic providing emergency care, CPL Robert Buttery, contacted me after the third or fourth episode of care by ASPEN Medical Services had failed to have any effect and PTE X's otitis externa continued to deteriorate.
I asked for PTE X to be sent back to Dili, where I took a brief history. I had some history from CPL Buttery already. Specifically, I was able to confirm from PTE X that despite diagnosing otitis externa, ASPEN Medical Services had failed to perform any ear toilet (cleaning) and had merely prescribed antibiotics and returned him to the field.
This unusual management of a common condition was always destined to fail, and indeed PTE X represented to ASPEN Medical Services. Again, his treatment was deficient and could never have been successful. He was again given antibiotics and returned to the field without having the affected ear cleaned.
I understand this happened a third time, with PTE X's condition worsening again in the interim. When he still failed to improve and reported to CPL Buttery, CPL Buttery contacted me and I asked for PTE X to be returned to Dili so I could advocate for him directly.
This did not turn out to be necessary, as ASPEN Medical Services finally realised they were unable to manage this common condition and made arrangements to return PTE X to Australia for management by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. However, by then it was too late and the repeated mismanagement and neglect of Jamie’s ear infection by ASPEN Medical Services had taken his hearing and vocation permanently.
There is no doubt in my mind that ASPEN Medical Services are responsible for Jamie’s hearing loss. Otitis externa is a common condition with a well established management regime which always responds well to appropriate management. Jamie’s ear infection should have both been better managed and referred earlier to an appropriate specialist.
This was one of several cases of mismanagement by ASPEN Medical Services that I personally witnessed in East Timor. I kept a record of these complaints as required of me and passed them to the Joint Operations Health Services Coordinator, Group Captain Amanda Dines. I did not receive feedback about the complaints I made or passed up my health chain of command.
I would be very comfortable testifying to the above. I also feel that any ENT specialist would point out that ear toileting (cleaning) is critical in the management of otitis externa, and that appropriate referral would have saved PTE X's hearing and career. This is a completely preventable tragedy caused by the neglect and mismanagement of PTE X’s ear infection by the doctors involved in his care.
Please contact me if I can be of any help.
Yours truly,
Dr Julian Fidge MBBS, BPharm, Grad Dip App Sc (Comp Sc)
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Instead of feedback and further inquiry about the medical care provided by ASPEN Medical Services from Joint Health Services, I was interviewed by the Battle Group Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Goddard.
As an aside, I went to school with Scott, as I had done with the Joint Task Force Commander, Brigadier Mal Rerdon. Mal and Scott went straight to Duntroon. I thought I would learn a little more about the army before becoming an officer, despite being selected for officer training around the same time as them, and enlisted as a private soldier.
Scott instructed me that health complaints were to come to him. I don't know how Scott would decide what was poor service and what wasn't, as he had no medical training. And his orders were not in keeping with the health care directives of the army, so I don't know what he thought he was going to achieve.
In any event, I never heard anything back from Group Captain Dines or the Joint Health Services. I was forced to conclude the senior leadership of the ADF did not care about the medical services provided to the soldiers.
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