Sick to Death

What was meant to be a light‑hearted dinner becomes weaponised into a scandal. The fallout leads to calls for Commissioner Tony Morris to be sidelined. 

But pressure doesn’t relent for Queensland Health as another scandal emerges. A bogus psychiatrist was allowed to treat patients. His credentials, the inquiry hears, were “crude forgeries”. 

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website

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Two years, 500 gigabytes of audio, and more than 200 voice actors. The Australian’s podcast adaptation of Hedley Thomas’ best-selling book Sick to Death is nearing its conclusion. It’s the story of the havoc wrought on the Queensland medical system by the incompetent surgeon Jayant Patel 20 years ago – and there’s still more to come.

In this episode of The Australian's daily podcast The Front, Hedley and our production team get together to discuss this epic project – and why it still resonates in 2026.

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The Australian's National Chief Correspondent Hedley Thomas provides an update on this podcast series.

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Hedley traces Dr Jayant Patel’s roots in Jamnagar, where former colleagues describe an autocratic surgeon whose unchecked ego foreshadowed disaster. 

Meanwhile in Australia, police weigh a slow extradition as outrage builds among Bundaberg patients. The inquiry hears harrowing nurse testimony about filthy practices and a culture that punished whistleblowers.

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The inquiry into Bundaberg Hospital and Dr Jayant Patel tears open Queensland Health’s culture. Buried reports are resurfaced in televised hearings, hospital staff are summoned without notice, and the government is put under pressure.

As public fury intensifies, premier Peter Beattie urges Patel to return to Australia and answer for his actions. 

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A simple Google search detonates a statewide crisis as Dr Jayant Patel’s past is laid bare. The resulting media storm unleashes public fury,  an outpouring of grief from patients and families, and vindication for Bundaberg Hospital's nurses.

With political pressure growing, Premier Peter Beattie finally bows to pressure, apologises, and announces a full commission into how Dr Patel came to be hired at Bundaberg Hospital. 

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“You know, he didn’t become a bad surgeon overnight.” 

This off-handed comment by a Bundaberg nurse prompts Hedley Thomas to start looking into Dr Patel’s history. A Google search uncovers the incredible truth. 

The Courier Mail must race to break a story with enormous ramifications for patients, doctors, and the secretive Queensland health system. 

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nurse Toni Hoffman risks a clandestine meeting with Hedley Thomas, as hospital administrators continue their hunt for the person leaking stories. 

Meanwhile, the Minister and Director‑General fly into Bundaberg to scold staff and shelve the report into Doctor Patel. 

But the cover‑up begins to tear as more stories about Australia’s own ‘Dr Death’ start to emerge.

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Patel books a ticket to flee overseas as the story of Queensland’s own ‘Dr Death’ gains traction in the media. 

Meanwhile, at Bundaberg Base Hospital, management still refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing. Instead, the nurses feel like they’re in the firing line as staff are rebuked for the leaks.  

But then a late‑night search by Dr Keating shows that perhaps there might be more to Dr Patel than management ever expected. 

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Defeated by the bureaucracy of public health, veteran ICU nurse Toni Hoffman drives through a storm to blow the whistle on Jayant Patel. Politician Rob Messenger takes up the fight in the Queensland parliament. 

With the first shots publicly fired, the media starts to take notice. Will it be enough to keep the reckless Dr Jayant Patel out of the operating theatre?

Do you know more? Contact Hedley Thomas and the team at [email protected]

Subscribers hear new episodes of Sick to Death first. Listen at sicktodeathpodcast.com, in The Australian’s app or search for “Sick to Death” on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.

Plus, get exclusive access to photos, videos, timelines, and more at the website. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.