The Crime and Misconduct Commission has recommended that Queensland Health consider disciplinary action against senior nurse Virginia Hancl for falsely claiming a university degree when applying for the position of Nursing Director at The Prince Charles Hospital in October 2003.
Queensland Health is also being asked to consider disciplinary action against Ms Hancl for a possible breach of the code of conduct regarding her failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest in nominating her de facto partner as a referee.
In addition, the CMC has found that there is no evidence of reprisal by three senior health officials who were involved in taking disciplinary action against Medical Director Dr Chris Davis for conducting his own referee check on Ms Hancl and distributing the results outside the recruitment process.
The CMC investigated issues relating to the appointment of Ms Hancl after the Director-General of Queensland Health requested the Commission’s assistance due to the sensitive circumstances surrounding the allegations.
Today the CMC released a public report on its website detailing the results of the investigation.
The investigation found that when Ms Hancl applied for the position of Nursing Director, her résumé included a reference to a Master of Public Administration from the University of Tasmania which in fact she did not have. However, the evidence shows that the university degree was not a determining factor in successfully obtaining the position.
The CMC also found that Ms Hancl showed a lack of judgment when she nominated Acting Director of Nursing at Southern Cross Care Alan Shepherd as a referee but failed to disclose that she had been in a close personal relationship with him.
The CMC has recommended that Queensland Health consider taking disciplinary action against Ms Hancl on the basis that she ought to have known that an objective reader of her résumé could have been misled by her statement in relation to the degree, and that she did nothing to correct any wrong impression.
The investigation found there was no evidence that the three senior health officials took disciplinary action against Dr Davis because, or in the belief, that he made or may make a public interest disclosure under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994.
The evidence showed that the officers relied on advice from human resources staff, the Audit and Operational Review Unit and independent legal advice.
The CMC notes that in June 2006 Queensland Health’s recruitment and selection policy was amended to provide selection panels with a greater ability to explore, clarify and verify information provided by the applicant in their application or at the interview.
ENDS
