"I think it's in the public interest that I follow this up": Bashing victim Martin Lancaster. Photo: Damian Shaw
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital discharged a man who had been bashed with a baseball bat after a cursory examination that failed to diagnose six broken bones.
Martin Lancaster was attacked just after midnight on April 12, 2012, sustaining a head wound so deep that he could reach his fingers into his skull, broken ribs, broken vertebrae and a pulverised fibula.
"I was assaulted in the street by someone I can only describe as a complete lunatic with a baseball bat, who was hiding behind a tree," Mr Lancaster said.

Bleeding heavily from the head and unable to walk, he travelled by ambulance to emergency at RPA, where the nurses recorded his pain level as zero while he waited four hours for his head to be cleaned and his leg to be assessed.
The registrar then spent a few minutes with him to arrive at a diagnosis of bruising.
It was an examination the hospital has come to regret. Mr Lancaster has pursued the matter through the Health Care Complaints Commission, the Medical Council of NSW and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Two days later, an x-ray determined showed he had a severe fracture in his ankle that required immediate surgery at Concord Hospital.
An X-ray of Lancaster's broken ankle.
X-ray of Lancaster's broken ankle
"It was so badly fractured that shards of bone just fell out of my leg," Mr Lancaster said.
A later bone scan found five further fractures in his ribs and neck.
The Health Care Complaints Commission found Mr Lancaster's treatment "left much to be desired", but declined to investigate further as it did not meet the threshold of demonstrating a significant issue of public health and safety.
Commissioner Kieran Pehm said in May the registrar's conduct "fell below the standard expected of a practitioner of equivalent level of training and experience" and recommended that he be referred to the Medical Council of NSW.
Mr Lancaster, who has since recovered from his injuries, is awaiting a response.
"I think it's in the public interest that I follow this up," he said. "They shouldn't treat people this way."
NSW Labor health spokesman Andrew McDonald said Mr Lancaster's case was a clear case of poor clinical management.
"RPA must investigate, tell Mr Lancaster the truth of how this could happen to him, apologise to him and explain to the rest of us what they have done to ensure there is no repeat," Dr McDonald said.
Sydney Local Health District chief executive Teresa Anderson said administrators had met with Mr Lancaster several times to discuss his concerns.
"The district acknowledges that Mr Lancaster is dissatisfied with the treatment provided to him," Dr Anderson said.
"An internal review of his case was conducted in addition to an independent review and the case was also referred to the HCCC. The district has addressed and implemented recommendations from those reviews."