A Queensland paramedic has been cautioned after he was found to have delayed leaving for jobs to get food and items from his house, including waiting for his McDonald’s to arrive before responding to potentially life-threatening call-outs.
On that occasion in May 2023, Luke William Hastings delayed leaving for a job by three to five minutes waiting for coffee and food at McDonald’s.
In a similar situation, also in May 2023, he waited roughly 15 minutes after being dispatched to depart, during which he ordered and waited for his coffee.
During another incident in July 2023, he swung by his house to pick something up on the way to a potentially life-threatening event, causing a delay of 10 to 15-minutes.
Other allegations made related to Hastings not notifying the ambulance operations centre after completing callouts.
Those incidents, all during 2023, ranged between 18 and 34 minutes after finishing up on a job.
A Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal found the paramedic had behaved in a way that constituted professional misconduct, despite Hastings arguing it should be deemed unsatisfactory professional performance.
However, Judicial Member Julie Dick SC, said some of the allegations occurred when Hastings was at the beginning of a long shift, or suffering from considerable stress and health problems.
She said while professional misconduct was usually associated with a punishment, that was not always the case.
“There is no legislative imprimatur that a finding of professional conduct must always be followed by a reprimand,” she said.
When the matters had been brought to the ambulance service’s attention, Hasting was given a final warning, and forced to undergo training on public sector ethics and the code of conduct before being allowed to return to work.
Dick also considered that Hastings often missed meal breaks and had to work overtime, when deciding to only issue a caution.
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