The office has been under pressure since it was revealed it had erred in telling media that chemotherapy appointments had been cancelled due to the doctors’ strike.
NSW health minister Ryan Park’s office has “unreservedly” apologised for an “error” that occurred earlier this month during the state’s public hospital doctors’ strike.
Mr Park’s office had previously briefed media that 486 chemotherapy appointments had been cancelled due to the strike.
In a statement to Oncology Republic, a spokesperson for Minister Park confirmed this had occurred.
“We unreservedly apologise for this error,” they said.
“What should have been said was 486 cancer patients had their oncology appointments cancelled, which included chemotherapy appointments.”
The comments came in response to demands from the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF NSW) for Mr Park to make a “formal public apology to cancer patients and to the doctors of NSW after his office deliberately fabricated a story about doctors cancelling chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients during last week’s three-day doctors’ strike”.
ASMOF executive director Andrew Holland said the source and intent of the false claims were now clearly understood.
“We now know that the false claims that doctors were cancelling chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients as a result of industrial action came directly from the NSW Minister for Health’s office,” he said.
“These claims were a deliberate and malicious attack on doctors aimed at destroying their credibility and undermining the legitimacy of the doctors’ strike.
“Having been widely reported dozens of times by the nation’s most trusted print, television and radio news sources from 8 to 10 April, and repeated by Premier Minns himself, these false claims sought to inflict maximum reputational damage to the integrity of NSW doctors.
“In attempting to do so, the false claims caused significant and ongoing distress to cancer patients who rely on this life-saving treatment, and to doctors, who dedicate their lives to protecting the health of their patients.”
Oncologist Dr Malinda Itchins said the false reporting caused doctors, the wider health care team, cancer patients and their families “considerable distress”.
“Cancer doctors feel so passionate and responsible for delivering high level and safe care to our patients,” she said.
“That’s why it was hurtful and offensive to see us accused of abandoning our patients during this strike.
“To falsely publicise on a national scale that we have jeopardised the health and safety of the people we work so hard to support and have incredibly important relationships with is devastating.”
She said the damaging claims had not just harmed doctors’ our reputations, but had “inflicted real distress on people with cancer, already in such a vulnerable situation, which is condemnable”.
“I worried deeply about how those headlines might have impacted the emotional well-being of those we care for with cancer, their caregivers, and loved ones,” said Dr Itchins.
“To weaponise them during the doctors’ industrial action and threaten that their treatments may be taken away from them is absolutely unacceptable.
“Cancer patients and cancer healthcare workers deserve a direct and public apology from the NSW Minister for Health for the distress and trauma this has caused. And the general public needs to be informed clearly that we did not and would not cancel cancer treatments.”
Mr Holland said that the Minister’s office was yet to take proper accountability for its deliberate and malicious actions against doctors and cancer patients.
“We note that the Minister’s office has since attempted to recast the dissemination of these fake cancelled chemotherapy figures to journalists as ‘an error.’ This is a cynical attempt to conceal their original actions’ deliberate and malicious intent.
“Once ASMOF doctors had contacted every major cancer treatment centre across NSW and determined that there was no evidence any chemotherapy treatments were cancelled as a result of industrial action, ASMOF leaders contacted both the Minister for Health’s office and NSW Health and requested that they publicly correct the record on the ‘fake cancelled chemotherapy treatment claims’. Both refused.”
