The Queensland Public Hospitals Commission of Inquiry, often referred to as the Davies Commission, was an inquiry into public hospital

Health care in Australia

Health care in Australia is provided by both private and government institutions. The Minister for Health and Ageing, currently Nicola Roxon, administers national health policy...

s in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The inquiry was headed by The Honourable Geoffrey Davies AO QC, a former Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Queensland

The Supreme Court of Queensland, which is based at the Law Courts Complex, is the superior court for the Australian State of Queensland and sits around the middle of the Australian court hierarchy...

 judge of appeal.

The commission was established by the Queensland Governor-In-Council in 2005 to investigate, among other things, the conduct of Dr Jayant Patel

Jayant Patel

Jayant Mukundray Patel , referred to as Doctor Death is a surgeon who is at the centre of a 2005 scandal in which he was accused of gross incompetence while working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia...

, a former surgeon of Bundaberg Base Hospital

Bundaberg Base Hospital

Bundaberg Base Hospital is the public hospital of Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia.A base hospital is a regional centre that takes referrals from outlying hospitals, and concentrates specialised skills. Australia has a universal publicly funded health insurance scheme, so a 'public' hospital is one...

. It was not a Royal Commission

Royal Commission

In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...

 and therefore had limited powers. The Commission was begun after the failure of a similar commission headed by Mr Tony Morris, the Bundaberg Hospital Commission of Inquiry.

The commission found gross negligence

Negligence

Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...

 in Patel's conduct, as well as systematic failures of management to deal with the problem. Davies recommended that Patel be referred to the public prosecutor for consideration of manslaughter

Manslaughter

Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...

, fraud

Fraud

In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...

, and assault

Assault

In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...

charges.