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A soldier claims he was asked by Queensland Health to give false evidence in a coronary inquest into the death of a former bank executive who took his own life just hours after leaving hotel quarantine, according to a coroner’s report.
Brendan Luxton, 51, was forced to undergo two weeks of mandatory isolation after arriving in Brisbane from New Zealand on July 2, 2020, despite pleas from his family for an exemption due to concerns for his health. mental.
Mr Luxton repeatedly told quarantine management staff that he was depressed and struggling with anxiety, but was not offered any mental health assessment.
On the morning of July 17, 2020, shortly after coming out of quarantine at the Brisbane Marriott hotel, he took his own life.
Now a coroner’s report released this week has revealed that an Australian Army officer claimed she was pressured to pretend she could not remember the circumstances surrounding Mr Luxton’s stay at the hotel.
The soldier had no medical training, but was called in to help the overloaded quarantine system as it struggled to keep up with admissions.
High-flying retired bank executive Brendan Luxton (pictured), 51, took his own life hours after being released from hotel quarantine.
“He felt pressure from the Metro North Public Health Unit to respond to the Coroner’s Court request for information with a suggested response of ‘I don’t remember,'” coroner Christine Clements said in the report seen by the mail.
“Mr Luxton died before there was a mental health assessment, as well as a telehealth appointment with a general practitioner, arranged by his family.”
A second army officer, who noted after a phone call with Mr Luxton on the eighth that he was “struggling” and “had anxiety and depression”, later told the coroner that he could not remember if the police were called.
The family of Mr Luxton, who was a childhood friend of Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk, is now demanding a full commission of inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic in light of the report.
In her findings, Ms Clements ruled that there was a large number of failures by the “unsophisticated” and “under strain” Queensland health system in the lead up to Mr Luxton’s death.
He found staff with minimal training, who were brought in to help the HDES (Health Instruction Exemption Service) in a bind, make ‘clinical’ decisions and assess the risk of people in quarantine.
Vital medical alerts were conveyed via sticky notes posted on the mental health nurse’s desk and the team leader failed to submit the Luxton family’s quarantine waiver request on July 4 before going on leave four days later. .
Ms. Clements discovered that untrained HDES staff made scheduled phone calls to Mr. Luxton on days 3 and 12, and when he did not respond, the police, who were not accompanied by a mental health nurse, told him. visited in person.
The information reported to HDES was that Mr Luxton was “fine”, but his sister said in subsequent conversations that he was in a state of anxiety and depression.
Mr Luxton had to undergo two weeks of mandatory isolation at the Brisbane Marriott hotel (pictured) in July 2020
Mr. Luxton’s family has been requesting a meeting with Ms. Palaszczuk since August 2020.
Mr Luxton’s devastated family has called the findings “appalling” and says the government failed to respond to several red flags.
“Brendan failed on every level and we absolutely believe he would be alive today if those red flags had been raised,” his sister Marita Corbett said.
Since August 2, 2020, Ms Corbett requested a personal meeting with the Prime Minister, who was close to her brother in high school.
The family claims Ms Palaszczuk used Mr Loxton’s death for political gain eighteen days later by mentioning him during a mental health funding announcement.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Palaszczuk’s office for comment.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said Queensland Health and Metro North Hospital and Health Service acknowledge the coroner’s findings and “wish to express our deepest condolences to Mr Luxton’s family and friends.”
“In July 2020, our quarantine waivers unit was processing over 40,000 applications under unprecedented and incredibly challenging circumstances,” they said.
“We acknowledge and apologize to Mr. Luxton’s family for not receiving a timely response to a waiver request submitted in July 2020.
“As a result, we’ve implemented changes, including improvements to identifying and escalating urgent requests and engaging additional mental health screening skills to help respond to requests and provide additional support for those quarantined at the hotel.” .
Queensland Health added that it takes “very seriously the statement that a seconded army officer felt pressured to give a determined response to the Coronial inquiry.”
“Metro North Hospital and Health Service will commission an internal investigation to look into the circumstances of this matter, and if it is determined that there has been inappropriate conduct by a staff member, it will take appropriate action,” the spokesperson said.
Annastacia Palaszczuk and Brendan Luxton with former Prime Minister Bob Hawke during their time as co-captains at Jamboree Heights State
“Both Queensland Health and Metro North Hospital and Health Service have fully cooperated with the coroner’s inquest into Mr Luxton’s death, and will continue to assist the coroner with any further matters that may arise.”
The report comes after data found calls to the Lifeline suicide prevention service spiked during the pandemic, with the organization recording its busiest day in 57 years in August 2021 as crisis workers dealt with 3,505 calls. in one day.
However, despite the increase in the use of mental health support services, statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that suicide rates declined in 2020 and 2021.
“Australian Bureau of Statistics coding of psychosocial risk factors associated with suicide deaths in 2020 determined that 3.2 per cent of these deaths had the pandemic mentioned in a police or pathology report or coronary finding. “, the report reads.
‘In 2021, the percentage of suicide deaths in which the pandemic was mentioned decreased to 2.6 percent. In most of these cases, other suicide risk factors were also present.’
For 24 hour confidential support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.