Workers at a Melbourne hospital where Daniel Andrews was taken after suffering a mysterious medical episode have been sacked for accessing his records.
The controversial former Victorian Premier was rushed to Monash Clayton Hospital in late December, and while the cause of the illness and his current condition are yet to be confirmed sources claimed earlier this month he was in a “very bad way” after suffering a stroke.
The level of secrecy around Mr Andrews’ condition and treatment have sparked speculation he suffered a Covid vaccine injury, and a long-serving Monash staff member revealed to the Daily Mail she had been dismissed for looking at his medical file.
The 59-year-old worker, anonymised as Michelle, said she viewed at the ex-premier’s records after hearing a report on the radio that a high-profile patient had been admitted to Monash.
“I thought, that can’t be right – why Clayton? So I looked it up. I pressed the restricted access button, had a quick skim … and that was it,” she said.
“I didn’t read everything, didn’t tell a soul. It’s what we do all day – access patient info for lawyers and patients. I’ve seen colleagues check family or friends, everyone does it.
“I just did the wrong thing, like I pressed on the restricted access button and had a look. But I just clicked through it and just went, ‘Oh, okay, whatever’. Because I’m in freedom of information and that’s what we do all day – we look up patient information and get all that information ready for lawyers and the patients.
“I didn’t think anything of it because I just didn’t realise that the punishment was so severe.”
She was then put on notice before being sacked in early January, and believes other staff were also let go for doing the same thing.
Michelle said she had worked for Monash for 14 years and never even had a warning, but the Health Workers Union refused to help due to Mr Andrews’ profile.
Monash Health said in a statement it could not comment on Michelle’s dismissal, but it “treats its obligations to protect the confidentiality of personal information with the utmost seriousness”.
Mr Andrews is believed to be undergoing an intensive rehabilitation program after being left with speech and movement issues following the medical episode, but one insider said those close to the ex-premier had “locked down information like Michael Schumacher’s family”.
Mr Andrews was previously put in intensive care at the Alfred Hospital after fracturing his spine and breaking several ribs at a holiday rental at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula in 2021.
He said he slipped on two small wooden steps, but his office’s initial refusal to provide details about the accident or the location generated conspiracy theories, all of which he has since dismissed.
Mr Andrews resigned as premier in 2023 after overseeing Victoria’s human rights-violating response to Covid, including the world’s longest lockdowns, which he imposed on Melbourne along with vaccine and mask mandates.
He was nicknamed “Dumpling Dan” and “Dimsum Dan” for signing a secret Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China in 2018 that was later torn up by the federal government and making a shadowy $82,000 visit to Beijing in 2023. He was then a guest at military parade in the Chinese capital in September last year.
Mr Andrews and his wife Catherine are also being sued for defamation by then-teenage cyclist Ryan Meuleman who they collided with in 2013, leaving him seriously injured.
The “bike boy” incident sparked allegations of a cover-up, but the Andrews have always denied wrongdoing and earlier this month filed a defence where they denied the defamation claim and alleged Mr Meuleman launched legal proceedings to court public and media attention.
Header image: Left, The last photo Daniel Andrews posted on social media, after voting Yes to the Voice in October 2023. Right, Monash Medical Centre (Wikipedia – Folfox – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0).
