Fair dinkum. The idiotic public statements coming from North Queensland about the Innisfail Hospital would make a bullocky cry.
On 3 May 2009, there was a midnight diagnosis that a patient - 92 year old Rita Ring - was dead.
The family was informed of the tragedy but lo and behold, the medical staff had got the diagnosis wrong - Rita was still very much alive.
This was discovered by nurses preparing to put her into a body bag.
Now, that's a pretty big mis-diagnosis in anyone's book.
What a farce. Even a Grade 8 biology student could tell the difference between a body which is dead and one that's still alive.
But the real tragedy in all of this is the apparent stupidity of the statement by Cairns District Medical Services Executive Director Doctor Neil Beaton who said "there was no error".
Wow! No error when you are wrongly pronounced dead! That's really great to know. Every North Queenslander will be very happy to hear they are in safe hands with Dr Beaton at the helm.
Either this guy just fell off the planet or failed Media Training 101, or both.
With a family traumatised by Innisfail Hospital's mis-diagnosis, this statement of denial by Dr Beaton is totally misguided.
All of the apologies in the world cannot forgive Dr Beaton's comment that there had been no error.
Dr Beaton would no doubt argue that a narrow, technical definition of a "medical error" has no application to Rita Ring's tragic mis-diagnosis.
Try telling that to her traumatised family.
If it had been Peter Beattie, he would have copped it on the chin, apologised and moved on.
The former Premier would never have engaged in self-denial, trivialisation or justification of the indefensible.
