Adjudication No. 1317 (adjudicated June 2006) [2006] APC 11

Adjudication No. 1317 (adjudicated June 2006)

The Australian Press Council has upheld in part a complaint by the Queensland Department of Emergency Services against The Daily Mercury, Mackay, concerning an article published on 17 February.

The article headed Ambulance bungle costs life said at least one patient in the Mackay district had died as a result of the Mackay Ambulance Communication Centre closure in February 2004, and its relocation to Rockhampton. It then detailed a high resignation rate and claims of bullying and intimidation in the Mackay ambulance service and said there had been allegations of wrong directions being given by triple 0 dispatchers in Rockhampton.

The Department complained that the headline contained serious accusations and sought details of the alleged death or publication of a retraction the following day. It said that the accusations could have an impact on Mackay residents who had lost a family member since the centre closed.

The Department was unable to test the accuracy of the claim because the newspaper did not provide the name of the patient or other details.

It said the newspaper had breached the Council's principle that says a publication should balance harmfully inaccurate information with a prompt and appropriately prominent follow-up.

In its response the newspaper said it had given assurances of confidentiality both to the original informant and subsequently to several more sources within the ranks of ambulance officers all of whom feared dismissal if their identities were revealed. It said that the claims were made by a responsible source about a public service that had attracted a great deal of local criticism and comment.

On the day following the original publication The Daily Mercury published a page three article headed Ambulance service slams allegations, in which an assistant commissioner of the ambulance service and the responsible minister denied the allegations in the newspaper. The Council believes that by publishing these denials prominently the next day the newspaper has met part of its obligations under Council principles.

However the claims of the involvement of a public service in an unnecessary death should have been detailed sufficiently, and a response from the ambulance service included, in the original article to ensure readers were given a balanced article that would enable them better to assess the claims. To the extent that the original article was not so balanced, the complaint is upheld.