EXCLUSIVE: An executive with St John Ambulance NT was allegedly under the influence of alcohol while on call as an intensive care paramedic and had also allegedly provided treatment after drinking, according to complaints filed by ambulance workers to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency – a complaint which the NT Independent understands has also sparked an internal St John Ambulance investigation.

The complaint was made against director of ambulance services Andrew Thomas at the start of August, which details four instances where Mr Thomas was working as an on-call intensive care paramedic, including one case where he was called out to treat a patient while he was allegedly impaired by alcohol.

The whistleblowers, who work for St John Ambulance, said that Mr Thomas had put himself in the on-call role on an almost permanent basis.

Insiders said the on-call role was primarily established to provide treatment advice to paramedics on critical jobs, but at times could require he be called out himself.

When contacted, AHPRA said they could not comment on matters unless they are on the “public record”.

Mr Thomas did not respond to questions.

St John Ambulance chief executive officer Judith Barker responded through her lawyer Amanda Hodder saying, amongst other things, that it was unlikely for it to be appropriate for her client to comment.

SJANT board chair Peter Carew also said it would be inappropriate to comment on the details of the allegations included in the NT Independent’s email, but did indicate an internal investigation was underway.

“St John has received a complaint outlining allegations, the content of which is confidential, and is currently the subject of an investigation,” he wrote.

“Upon receiving the allegations, the board acted quickly to commence an investigation which remains ongoing.

“As you are no doubt aware, to ensure the integrity of the investigation and to preserve the positions of those involved, it is imperative that the matter be treated confidentially.”

The whistleblowers said the complaints were made directly to AHPRA due to a perceived culture amongst the St John Ambulance senior executive of sweeping internal issues under the carpet, which they said might cause reputational damage to the company or might be too hard to deal with.

They have also alleged the complaints needed to be filed with the national regulator because of the alleged close personal relationship between Ms Barker and Mr Thomas.

Ms Barker’s lawyer, Ms Hodder, said it was false to suggest Ms Barker was responsible for any alleged ‘perceived culture’ of sweeping away issues or that she had otherwise failed in her duties in connection to Mr Thomas or SJANT.

The complainants said that if Mr Thomas was any other employee, they would have been stood down during the investigation.

“It is of grave concern that Mr Thomas still remains in a position of substantial influence,” they said.

The complaints against Andrew Thomas

The NT Independent understands that there are four incidents that form the alleged complaints about Mr Thomas to AHPRA, all of which allegedly involve the consumption of alcohol, ranging from November last year to June this year.

The complainants said all of the allegations, if proven, may constitute breaches of the SJANT code of conduct, along with the AHPRA code of conduct and has the potential to bring the profession into disrepute.

The whistleblowers say that in each instance of alleged inappropriate conduct, the SJANT emergency control centre operations log and the communications supervisor log show Mr Thomas was the dedicated on-call intensive care paramedic.

Mr Thomas’ alleged consumption of alcohol whilst rostered on-call and attending a work-related function could also breach the SJANT alcohol and other drug policy, the whistleblowers said.

The first alleged violation is said to have happened in November last year, when Mr Thomas was rostered as the on-call intensive care paramedic, but is alleged to have been consuming alcohol.

The second alleged case was in December 2021, when Mr Thomas was said to be witnessed drinking alcohol at the SJANT event held in public, while he was rostered on call.

The third case was from earlier this year and involved an ambulance crew transporting a critically injured patient from a car crash, diverting from its route to Royal Darwin Hospital to pick up Mr Thomas.

“This was said to be unusual because Mr Thomas has a personal single response vehicle equipped with all emergency response equipment and fitted with lights and sirens,” the complaint to AHPR said.

“It is alleged Mr Thomas was unable to drive because he had been drinking alcohol. It is alleged Mr Thomas was clinically operating under the influence of alcohol.

“The patient later died at Royal Darwin Hospital.”

The fourth incident was earlier this year, during the Finke Desert race, where Mr Thomas was reported to have been rostered on the Critical Response Unit, which is a single responding intensive care ambulance working noon to midnight, with on-call duties from midnight to 6am.

The AHPRA complaint alleges Mr Thomas was at a staff social event at Lasseter’s Casino, witnessed by about 25 people drinking alcohol, when he received a call on his mobile from the emergency communications centre, but handed it on to another paramedic, because he had been drinking, the complaint to AHPRA said.

The allegation further states that the call from the communications supervisor was to request an intensive care response for a priority one dispatch code, and his actions caused a delay in the response.

“It’s alleged the behaviour demonstrates a blatant disregard for staff safety along with a complete disregard for patient safety,” the complainants said. “This behaviour has the potential to cause serious harm to a member of the community.

“This repeated behaviour outlined in this complaint sets a poor example for all staff especially from the director of ambulance service. The director is a senior executive responsible for setting the standard and culture of the organisation.

“This is said to have reduced the level of respect for Mr Thomas and it is now a common joke…”