Gurrumul's Manager Accuses Darwin Hospital Of Racial Profiling

With acclaimed Indigenous musician Gurrumul Yunupingu in hospital for liver disease, his manager Mark Grose and specialist doctor Paul Lawton have issued a complaint to Royal Darwin Hospital for the apparent "racial profiling" involved in the treatment of Gurrumul.

As The Guardian reports, Gurrumul was admitted to the hospital on Easter Sunday with internal bleeding related to his ongoing liver disease, but as Grose writes in an official letter to Royal Darwin Hospital, he was left for eight hours with internal bleeding when "the expectation … was that he would have immediate treatment (surgery) to stop the internal bleeding". 

Grose writes that the lack of attention for eight hours caused Gurrumul's condition to decline, requiring the musician to be moved to the ICU and at "the point of needing critical care".

"I am hoping you can explain to Gurrumul and myself why he ended up in ICU? Why was he left for over 8 hours when the reason for his admittance was clearly evident in Michelle [Dowden, private nurse]'s explanation to the A&E staff and was clearly in all of his notes?

"There are two assumptions that I can make which are both disturbing but need answering; was Gurrumul Yunupingu's level of A&E care related to assumptions based on his race or is there a serious fault in the system that allows someone to be largely ignored in A&E while seriously ill?" Grose asks.

Professor Dinesh Arya of the NT Health's Top End Health Service says a review was launched when the complaint was received, but that he was "satisfied" that Gurrumul's treatment was "timely and appropriate". 

He also added, "The hospital has a proud multicultural staff and more than 60% of patients admitted to Royal Darwin Hospital identify as Aboriginal. Claims of poor treatment due to a patient’s race have never been raised at the hospital and RDH will continue to provide the best possible service to all patients requiring treatment."

Lawton also alleges that the hospital wrote that Gurrumul was a drinker on his chart, when he is not.

"It’s assumed people with liver disease have alcohol problems. Which is, to use Mark’s term, racial profiling," Lawton says.

Gurrumul is still in hospital but in a stable condition.

Read Mark Grose's full complaint below.