Gisborne Hospital Report - Health and Disability Commissioner

Gisborne Hospital 1999 – 2000
Operating Theatre Protocols
He often insisted on getting things done and it was always for the benefit
of the Operating Theatre.”
2.9 The technical and nursing staff’s ability to raise their concerns with Dr Lucas
at the time the alleged incidents happened was influenced by their perceptions
of his likely response. The investigation team was told by nurses and
anaesthetic technicians: “If we challenged Brian Lucas he became aggressive
and also became rude to the patients. After a while we chose not to challenge
him because he would take it out on the patients as well as staff.”
2.10 One surgeon’s impression of Dr Lucas was that he had a personality problem
and was a bit arrogant. The surgeon commented that nursing staff did not like
Dr Lucas and he did not like them. He witnessed antagonism between Dr
Lucas and nursing staff.
2.11 The Group Manager (Hospital) said of Dr Lucas:
“He was always looking for a way to smarten things up. Dr Lucas was
different to what provincial staff at Gisborne were used to.”
2.12 It is fair to say that Dr Lucas polarised the people he worked with. His
colleagues who were doctors tended to appreciate his contribution more than
his nursing and anaesthetic assistant colleagues. A prevalent view among the
latter group was that no action was taken against Dr Lucas because senior
clinicians and managers thought it was nothing more than a personality clash.
A “them-and-us” attitude, which was probably there already, intensified.
Anaesthetists
2.13 The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists provides the
following standard for specialist anaesthetists:
“Specialist Anaesthetists recognise that:
Regular work in anaesthesia of appropriate volume and complexity is
necessary to maintain clinical skills.
Participation in an ongoing programme directed at maintaining proper
clinical standards of practice is required.”
[The Standards of Practice of a Specialist Anaesthetist (1994) p 16]
2.14 The practice at Gisborne was for each anaesthetist to develop his or her own
subspeciality.
Anaesthetic technicians
2.15 The anaesthetic technician’s role is to assist the anaesthetist. The role was
described as setting up for the procedure, assisting the anaesthetist, drawing up
the drugs, occasionally putting an IV line into a patient, and checking the
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