St John Ambulance NT has threatened to sue the NT Independent for publishing an article about an internal complaint made by employees to the federal health regulator alleging multiple instances of its director of ambulance services drinking on the job, it can be revealed.

Shortly after the legal letter was sent, St John chair Peter Carew also sent an internal email to staff about the latest controversy, in which he claimed the issue becoming public has “damaged the reputation of the organisation”.

The legal letter from a Sydney law firm, understood to have been initiated by Mr Carew before seeking board approval, demanded that the NT Independent remove the article and apologise to St John for exposing its problems.

The letter also requested that this publication retain information that it appeared to believe could be used to identify the anonymous whistleblowers in the organisation who had filed the complaints.

NT Independent editor Christopher Walsh said the publication stands behind its reporting on a serious matter of public interest and will never reveal whistleblowers’ identities.

“The article complained about by St John’s board highlights ongoing dysfunction in St John Ambulance that the public has a right to know about,” he said.

“Territorians are the ones paying for this crucial service through contracts with the NT Government. St John would be better placed dealing with its internal issues rather than using taxpayer cash to threaten to sue the NT Independent for informing the public.”

The article in question involved a complaint being sent by anonymous St John Ambulance workers to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) at the start of August, alleging four instances involving director of ambulance services Andrew Thomas 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 allegations made in the complaint have not been proven.

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, amid fears of “reputational damage”, among other concerns.

They have also alleged the complaints needed to be filed with the national regulator because of the alleged close personal relationship between now former chief executive officer Judith Barker and Mr Thomas.

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

Mr Thomas did not respond to questions about the allegations, while Ms Barker responded through her lawyer Amanda Hodder stating that it was unlikely for it to be appropriate for her client to comment.

The article also reported that St John Ambulance had launched its own investigation into the allegations, that Mr Carew himself confirmed.

The letter from lawyer Nicole Dunn, of Dunn and Bowe lawyers to the NT Independent, claimed the article that highlighted the allegations and the two ongoing investigations was defamatory to St John Ambulance because it suggested, among other things, that St John “has placed the public [and its employees] at risk and that there are workplace culture issues at St John”.

The letter added that the publication of the alleged “imputations was reckless and indefensible” and “calculated to cause irreparable harm to St John and should not have been published”.

“The NT Independent is an online publication which could potentially reach millions of people around the world,” the letter from Ms Dunn said. “The article has already caused and will continue to cause St John substantial harm and reputational damage.”

The NT Independent understands that the four alleged incidents range from November last year to June this year.

The whistleblowers said 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.

The St John Ambulance NT board includes Mr Carew, Mark Coffey, Hamish Baddeley, Robert Kendrick, Terri-Ann Maney, and Roland Chin.

Not one member of the board responded to the NT Independent’s questions seeking confirmation of when they were made aware of the serious allegations against Mr Thomas and what action any of them took when made aware.

They also did not say if they were aware of – or approved – the threat of legal action from the not-for-profit organisation against this publication.

They further refused to say what the organisation intended to do to the whisteblowers, if their identify was revealed through the legal demand for source material held by this publication.

The NT Independent would never reveal whistleblower identities under any circumstances.

“Ambulance services are critical to the safety of our community,” Walsh said.

“St John should address its problems instead of threatening to identify whistleblowers who put their own job security on the line to ensure the public is aware of this. There is nothing more serious than people’s safety being put at risk.

“Threatening the messengers with legal action for reporting facts is not the way to earn back the public’s trust.”

In the email to staff, Mr Carew said that St John “takes such claims very seriously” and that the board “moved quickly and appropriately to commence an investigation”.

Mr Carew then claimed that St John’s “protocols have been compromised” by the NT Independent’s factual report on the two investigations being underway, because the organisation aims to “protect our reputation” and staff members’ “reputation within the wider community”.

He then incorrectly claimed that the story was published “without affording those who have been accused of wrongdoing an ability to properly reply, in doing so they [the NT Independent] have denied them natural justice”.

However, Mr Carew, Mr Thomas and Ms Barker were all given a week to answer questions for the NT Independent’s article before it ran. Mr Carew’s response was quoted in the article, Mr Thomas declined to respond and Ms Barker sent a letter from a lawyer that was also quoted in the story.

“For some reason, Mr Carew seems to think that because allegations as serious as this are being internally investigated, that it should not be reported,” Walsh said.

“This is why we contacted all involved for comment. You don’t get to suppress alleged misconduct by claiming you’ll investigate it internally. The public has a right to know about serious allegations being made that might affect their safety. There is no credible claim of defamation by St John just because they were unhappy with the reporting of facts.”

Majority of St John Ambulance NT staff say it’s a ‘toxic workplace’: Survey

A United Workers Union survey released in May, in which nearly 150 St John staff members took part, found 64 per cent said they felt there is a toxic workplace and senior management allows the toxicity to thrive, while 44 per cent said they have been bullied, harassed, or targeted by management because they engaged in protected industrial action during the current enterprise agreement.

More than three quarters of respondents said St John puts profits ahead of the welfare of workers and nearly half said they have been bullied and harassed by management for engaging in protected action during bargaining negotiations

At the time of the survey, Ms Barker said the union had not provided management with any details regarding the survey and that the company would investigate workplace bullying and harassment allegations.

In early September, the NT Independent reported several St John staff said the service was sending ambulance drivers – known as patient transport officers – instead of paramedics to life-threatening emergencies every day, while staff fatigue levels reached critical levels, operational and safety related concerns raised by front-line staff were being ignored, and paramedic attrition rates hit the highest levels in the country.

St John Ambulance NT refused comment on those findings.