A man who wore a uniform, drove a vehicle closely resembling an ambulance and charged for emergency health services he was not qualified to perform has been deemed a risk to public health and safety.
The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has handed down a permanent prohibition order against Andreas Pantziaros for offering health services via his company Medic Corp Ambulance.
In a statement released on Tuesday the commission said it found “Pantziaros wore a formal uniform that had a strong resemblance to the NSW Ambulance paramedic uniform, which could easily mislead the public to believe he was a NSW paramedic”.
“Whilst wearing this uniform Mr Pantziaros drove a vehicle which had been modified to resemble a NSW Ambulance vehicle, including displaying the words ‘Ambulance’, ‘000 Emergency’ and a ‘Medic Corp’ Logo almost identical to the NSW Ambulance logo,” the statement said.
“Mr Pantziaros does not hold the qualifications required to perform the role of a paramedic.”
Evidence also included that Pantziaros was convicted for the offence of impersonating an emergency services organisation officer after prosecution by police. In 2021 police twice notified Pantziaros to amend his vehicle due to its resemblance to a NSW ambulance.
A public warning was issued in September 2022 that “Pantziaros is not, and has never been, a registered paramedic with NSW Ambulance”.
Pantziaros denied the claims about him to NewsLocal in September 2022 but declined to comment further about the investigation.
Pantziaros was also paid for “first aid training” he delivered to staff of private organisations despite not being qualified to teach first aid.
The health regulator Ahpra had previously warned Pantziaros about using the protected term “paramedic”.
The commission determined that Pantziaros’s conduct “poses a risk to public health and safety and that protective orders are required in order to protect the public”.
Under the Health Care Complaints Act, the commission ordered that “Mr Andreas Pantziaros is permanently prohibited from providing any health services, either in paid employment or voluntarily, including through any business or company, to any member of the public”.
The order came into effect on 6 June.
The commission found Pantziaros had breached several clauses of the health practitioner code of conduct, including providing health services in a safe and ethical manner, not providing services that he or she is not qualified to provide, and not engaging in any form of misinformation or misrepresentation in relation to the services he or she provides or as to his or her qualifications, training or professional affiliations.
Medic Corp Ambulance’s website is no longer active but its social media presence remains online.
