NSW Ambulance has backflipped on key evidence after the suicide of a Hunter paramedic

The ambulance service has withdrawn an allegation Mr Jenkins handed over two syringes containing morphine to senior officers at a meeting on April 9 only hours before his death.

The backflip came after Mr Jenkins’ widow Sharon asked for proof of the syringe allegation in a 28-page response to a NSW Ambulance root cause analysis report of events relating to Mr Jenkins’ death, and as police finalise a report to the NSW Coroner.

“This description of events was in error. The root cause analysis team records do not indicate that (Mr Jenkins) ever handed over the vials to the managers,” NSW Ambulance acting director of clinical governance Scott Deeth said in a letter to NSW Ambulance chief executive Dominic Morgan on November 30, after Mr Morgan requested “a review of a factual matter”.

The allegation was downgraded to two senior officers alleging Mr Jenkins said he had taken two vials of morphine at the start of his shift on April 9.

An outraged Mrs Jenkins said withdrawal of the allegation “changes everything”, after she challenged NSW Ambulance to produce the morphine syringes or evidence to back the claim. It was particularly concerning after the ambulance service originally alleged Mr Jenkins was called to the April 9 meeting because of alleged Fentanyl tampering and long term use of the powerful opioid.

A toxicology report found Mr Jenkins had no Fentanyl or other drug in his system when he died. 

“The implication from them saying he had two syringes with him at that meeting was that there was no doubt he was using drugs and they confiscated drugs from him,” Mrs Jenkins said.

“It’s an out and out lie. It puts everything into question. When they delivered that report to my house I couldn’t believe it. It was devastating what they were saying, but it also didn’t make sense.

“There’s no evidence linking Tony with Fentanyl and the only evidence they had to back any accusations of self-medicating against Tony were those syringes. To find out now that’s untrue is shocking.

“That’s the only evidence they had to say that Tony had a problem with drugs and now we know it’s a lie. That changes everything.”

NSW Ambulance went public with inferences Mr Jenkins had a drug problem during media interviews shortly after his death.  

“From my understanding of Tony Jenkins he was this well respected well regarded professional and it concerns me greatly that a person with that reputation could find themselves so desperate that their only option was to turn to drugs of addiction,” Mr Morgan said.

Mr Morgan apologised to the Jenkins family in October for “any additional hurt or distress that has been caused to your family” following his comments, after Mrs Jenkins staged a protest outside Hamilton ambulance station.

Mr Jenkins, 54, took his own life about two hours after he was dropped off, alone, by a senior NSW Ambulance officer after the April 9 meeting where the ambulance service allegedly questioned Mr Jenkins about Fentanyl tampering at Hunter ambulance stations.

Mrs Jenkins, daughters Kim and Cidney and nephew Shayne Connell want an inquest to explore why Mr Jenkins was targeted on April 9, after a secret review three months before his death – and prompted by Fentanyl use allegations against two other paramedics from outside the Hunter – concluded there was “no evidence” Mr Jenkins “mis-used restricted NSW Ambulance medications.

The later root cause analysis report into Mr Jenkins’ death found NSW Ambulance had no routine tracking of Fentanyl usage; that weekly “integrity check” audits of Fentanyl and other restricted medications were lacking and varied from station to station across the state; that secure drug safes were “frequently not closed” and drugs were “handed over” from shift to shift; compliance with dual signing out of restricted drugs varied; and “a culture of trust and mateship” resulted in regular checking procedure “violations” and “routine deviation” from restricted drug policies across NSW.

The investigation also “could not confirm if other staff were or were not involved with medication tampering” at Hunter stations.

Mr Jenkins is the fourth Hunter ambulance officer in the past decade to take his own life. He died six months after Mr Morgan told a parliamentary inquiry the service had serious cultural problems including “rates of bullying that would not be considered acceptable to us or the broader community”.

Documents found in Mr Jenkins’ locker after his death confirmed he had a long history of writing reports to ambulance management about employee safety, and more recent support of a female officer over bullying.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson said the syringe reference was a “mistake in the summary of description” made by the root cause analysis team and noted by NSW Ambulance staff.

“The error in the summary did not result in the need to change the recommendations made in the report,” the spokesperson said.

The ambulance service denied there was an allegation made within the report, and said it would make no further comment pending the outcome of three investigations into Mr Jenkins’ death, including a coronial inquiry.

The spokesperson said a root cause analysis looked at systems issues, not individual conduct.

“It is not intended to be an exhaustive statement of facts. That is because the root cause analysis is simply one part of a broader investigation process,” the spokesperson said.  

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