One nurse,who cannot be identified,will tell the hearing how a soldier who was suicidal was refused treatment.
Army nurse who will give evidence to the Royal Commission.Supplied
The royal commission began last November in Brisbane after Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared in March that he would not oppose a move to finally examine the crisis.
From 2001 to 2019,there were 1273 deaths by suicide among serving ADF personnel and veterans,data shows.
In her submission the nurse,who had 10 years’ experience in the public sector,tells of the experience of a soldier who went for psychological screening late last year.
“The army psychologist asked the soldier “Are you having any suicide ideation? ” Prior to him answering the psychologist said,“Nah,you don’t have that,” and crossed it off on the paperwork.
“A student psychologist present said,‘I think we should let them answer it themselves’. The soldier was upset and confused. The soldier wanted to report that they were experiencing suicidal ideation.
“The soldier contacted me and detailed what happened,so I arranged for an external psychologist off base to see him and provide immediate care and treatment.”
The nurse told theHerald:“There have been instances where Bupa doctors were refusing to give second opinions and are refusing imaging when it is clinically indicated. Some Bupa doctors have point blank refused to document injuries[for soldiers leaving Defence] saying leave it up to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs when you get out. This has made me believe Bupa is instructing doctors to save money.”
Another acting army nurse who also can’t be identified will tell the hearing that on-the-job training for nurses was inadequate. “You do three weeks of primary healthcare and then three weeks of trauma type healthcare. After that,you are expected to...be in charge of medics.”
She said she had received inadequate care for recurring back pain. “Soldiers would get sent for physio but the physios don’t even touch you when they assess you. How can they know something is out of alignment or whatever? I went to physio twice a week apart and she didn’t touch me once,she’s one of the Bupa ones.”
Solicitor Paul James,of Operational Legal Australia,which specialises in veterans’ claims,is representing nurses giving evidence to the commission.
He said that he was seeing that soldiers transitioning out of the forces were receiving substandard healthcare from Bupa at bases across Australia.
“I have clients before the Royal Commission,both soldiers and officers who will give evidence throughout the year of misdiagnosis,denial of imaging,denial of treatment and not being referred to appropriate allied health providers,” he said.
“We are seeing that when they transition[out of the ADF] they end up as veterans having to fight the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to get conditions recognised that were clearly identifiable whilst in service. One client who left the service last year and within six months he has got eight conditions. They should be given a full health review before they leave but they are not getting that.”
Since 2007 there have been numerous hearings,inquiries and investigations related to defence and veteran suicide that cover thousands of pages and hundreds of recommendations. The implementation of many recommendations has not begun.
The award of the healthcare contract from Medibank to Bupa in January 2019 raised concerns given the provider’s dismal performance identified in the Royal Commission into aged care and reputation for cost-cutting.
A spokeswoman for Bupa said it wasn’t appropriate to comment before the evidence is provided in the hearings. The Department of Defence was asked for comment.
Crisis support can be found at Lifeline:(13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au),the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au)