Report by Nick McKenzie on ABC Radio 'The World Today' - Allegations that Medical Attention for Asylum Seekers is being withheld in Australia's Detention Centres

ELEANOR HALL: The Commonwealth Ombudsman is putting the final touches on a report into allegations that medical attention has been withheld from asylum seekers in Australia's detention centres.

The Ombudsman says he has received a number of complaints about cases inside Australia and the Australian Medical Association says it has concerns about the provision of medical services in the offshore camps on Nauru as well.

The AMA's comments follow a case in which the diagnosis of a specialist sent to the camps on Nauru from Australia, has allegedly not been acted on for more than eight months.

This special report from Nick McKenzie.

NICK MCKENZIE: Queensland-based Orthopaedic Surgeon Doctor David Mackintosh arrived in Nauru in October last year. The tiny Pacific island houses hundreds of asylum seekers, who were intercepted by the Australian Navy as they sailed towards Australia. Nauru receives a financial incentive from the Australian Government to house the asylum seekers. The detention camps are managed by the IOM, the International Organisation for Migration.

Most of Dr Mackintosh's patients on Nauru required treatment that could be delivered on the island, but 36-year-old Afghani, Jamil Hashimi, had a more serious ailment. The prothesis fitted to the stump of his leg was worn out. It was causing him considerable pain and made walking difficult.

Dr Mackintosh advised for a new prothesis to be made and fitted, a procedure that would need to be, at least partly, carried out in Australia. More than eight months have passed since Dr Mackintosh made his diagnosis, but Jamil Hashimi still limps on the same worn-out prothesis.

Dr Mackintosh has declined to be interviewed by the ABC, but a GP and psychiatrist working in the camps at the time was aware of his diagnosis.

MAARTEN DORMAAR: Oh, Dr Mackintosh recommended he should get a new prothesis in Australia since he had ulcers on the stump. That is a dangerous situation, it can get infected and more and more pain of course.

NICK MCKENZIE: Doctor Maarten Dormaar, who is no longer on Nauru, says it wasn't the only case where medical treatment was withheld on the island.

MAARTEN DORMAAR: There were a few cases actually that, of people with kidney stones and finally, after months and months and months, people were accepted for removal of kidney stones but for one of them it was too late, actually for his kidney it was too late because the kidney had to be removed.

NICK MCKENZIE: Last month, Dr Dormaar complained about the cases to Australia's Commonwealth Ombudsman, who replied that Nauru was out of its jurisdiction.

When the ABC asked a spokesman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock about the case of Jamil Hashimi, he referred the ABC to the camp manager, the IOM. The IOM has primary responsibility to provide medical care to detainees on Nauru, although the Department of Immigration takes over when a patient must travel to Australia for treatment.

IOM Spokesman Denis Nihill says he's working with the Department to resolve the case, and is considering transferring Jamil Hashimi to Australia. As to why it's been eight months with no outcome, Mr Nihill says Jamil Hashimi's condition is not life-threatening.

The Australian Medical Association's Federal President, Dr Bill Glasson, says the case highlights the need to improve transparency in the camps.

BILL GLASSON: I mean, they're there because of us, because we have decided that they can't come ashore to Australia, which may or may not be fair enough, but we put them in those detention centres and as such I think we do have an onus of responsibility to make sure the appropriate services are being provided.

NICK MCKENZIE: The AMA is also keenly awaiting the release of a report by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, who is investigating a number of complaints about the provision of medical services in Australian detention centres.

The issue reached the headlines last month when a Thai prostitute died in the Villawood Detention Centre, after staff failed to recognise she was going through a heroin withdrawal.

The firm which runs Villawood, Australasian Correctional Management, has since changed its procedure to ensure urgent medical cases are assessed in a hospital, but the AMA says that's not enough and is calling for its members to be able to freely enter and report on medical cases in all detention centres.

BILL GLASSON: At the end of the day, if they've got confidence in the people who are actually providing the services, which they should, they should then feel comfortable that there's an open and frank discussion and revelation of exactly what actually is happening in these camps to ensure that, you know, appropriate services are being provided

ELEANOR HALL: Dr Bill Glasson, from the AMA, ending that report by Nick McKenzie.

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