SYDNEY – NSW’s medical watchdog is under fire for hiring a convicted sex offender to investigate patient complaints, potentially including sexual misconduct by doctors.

Key points:

• No action was taken by the HCCC against the staffer when his criminal history was uncovered
• But two employees were fired after uncovering the offender’s HR records
• NSW Health Minister has demanded a further investigation into the employment screening process

Sources say the staffer was hired by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in December 2017, but a background check was not done until May 2018.

The HCCC is required to run police background checks before hiring new staff.

The sex offence was then noted on an HR database, but no action was taken against the employee or those involved in the recruitment process.

Two other HCCC employees who subsequently accessed the HR file were sacked for breaching data privacy rules.

READ MORE OF ABC INVESTIGATOR GREG MISKELLY’S REPORT:

NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) hired convicted sex offender to investigate misconduct