Episode 15: The Collapse

Journalist Hedley Thomas joins us with a special insight into where his blockbuster podcast investigation The Poisoned Wife is heading. After the 1986 murder of Rosslyn McQueen, the Homicide Squad rolls into tiny Lockwood, Victoria to question husband Ray, who is infatuated with a teenage girl - and the police interview changes everything.  He suspects a neighbour of poisoning his wife Ros. Meanwhile, Ray’s attention is focused on a vulnerable 17-year-old girl.  Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Husband accused of murder sent ‘strange’ neighbour to find poisoned wife Poisoned wife Rosslyn McQueen feared husband was having an affair with babysitter McQueen marriage under ‘considerable stress’ due to finances, friend told police This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack, and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This final episode of the Sick To Death podcast series unpacks the remaining rollercoaster ride in the Dr Jayant Patel saga. Patel's fight within the criminal justice system goes high and low, marked by a successful appeal to the High Court of Australia in 2012 and two subsequent retrials for manslaughter and grievous bodily harm. With the criminal proceedings finally over, the Medical Board of Australia works to rub him out. In fresh interviews, whistleblower nurse Toni Hoffman and patient advocate Beryl Crosby recall these events and their impact on those closely involved.  King's Counsel Dr Ian Freckelton discloses his role in ensuring that Patel can never operate again. He also answers burning questions about Patel's conduct, psychology and the capacity of the system to deal with rogue surgeons. And Jayant Patel reveals to The Australian's Ellie Dudley where his mind is at all these years later. 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 story of Dr Jayant Patel and others involved in the saga surrounding his two-year tenure at the Bundaberg Base Hospital was far from over when Hedley Thomas emailed the manuscript for his book Sick To Death in late 2006. Two bonus episodes of the Sick To Death podcast tell the rest of the gripping story. This episode tracks the twists and turns in the pursuit of justice from 2007 to 2011, including Patel’s extradition from the United States in 2008, a lengthy jury trial in 2010 and an appeal by Patel the following year. In fresh and archived interviews with whistleblower nurse Toni Hoffman and patient advocate Beryl Crosby, they describe and reflect upon the significant events. The Australian's senior reporter Sarah Elks reminisces about covering the trial in 2010 as a junior reporter. 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.

Queenslanders are outraged when the Commission of Inquiry led by Tony Morris collapses following a successful court challenge by hospital administrators Peter Leck and Dr Darren Keating. Premier Peter Beattie backflips on his promise to see the inquiry through, but relents in the face of voter fury and appoints the retired judge Geoff Davis as Commissioner.  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.

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 websiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Hedley travels to the United States in hopes of a face-to-face interview with Jayant Patel, Geoff Davies delivers his findings to Premier Peter Beattie. The result is a multimillion-dollar cash injection into Queensland Health.  Plus, life goes on for patients treated by the incompetent surgeon and Hedley picks up the story for The Australian.  Two new episodes of Sick to Death will be available in the coming weeks. They include fresh interviews and careful analysis of how the criminal justice system dealt with Dr Patel and how it grappled with the extremely rare occurrence of of the prosecution of a surgeon for alleged criminal negligence. These events aren't detailed in Hedley Thomas' book Sick to Death.The next two episodes, however, will document some remarkable highs and lows in this saga as it wound its way through the courts.  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.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian's National Chief Correspondent Hedley Thomas provides an update on this podcast series.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.