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Dr David Hurst: Dumped dental patients urge widow Clara Hurst to assist with insurance claims

Distressed patients of rogue dentist Dr David Hurst are urging his widow to do what she can to facilitate insurance claims over their botched implants and other expensive treatments gone wrong. Patients who’ve been stranded for months say they hope Clara Hurst can do something to assist their claims against her late husband’s professional indemnity insurance. With David Hurst’s company, Hurst Group Pty Ltd, in the process of being wound-up, their best hope of recovering funds — in order to get their teeth fixed — is to submit a negligence claim against the deceased dentist’s professional indemnity insurance. Claims need to go through Clara Hurst as executor of her husband’s deceased estate. As revealed by The Sunday Times, more than 130 patients were left in limbo following the sudden death of the 43-year-old Perth dentist last December, with $2.3 million of their pre-payments discovered missing in the wake of the tragedy. In pain and nursing massive losses from the collapse of his company, they’re now frustrated by delays in being able to lodge insurance claims. Many paid up to $70,000 each in advance for implants. At the time of his death, they had received only partial treatment or were still waiting for it to start. The Sunday Times has interviewed scores of patients who complain shoddy work and cheap materials left them in agony and, in some cases, looking disfigured. The liquidator for Hurst Group, Bryan Hughes, has on several previous occasions advised the patients, as creditors of the company, that insurance claims can only be made with assistance from the executor of the deceased estate and only when probate was granted. Probate was granted to Clara Hurst on February 24. The increasingly anxious patients only found out probate had been granted when informed this week by this newspaper, which obtained a copy. In an email to patients on May 16, Mr Hughes, wrote: “I have been contacted by patients ... seeking information on how they may make a claim against (David Hurst’s) insurance. “The insurance policy is in the name of the late David Hurst and I have no legal standing to act or do anything in regards to that policy. I have been advised I cannot seek claims ... but I am aware that parties are wanting contact details for who can address a potential claim. “The lawyer for the executor of the estate of the late David Hurst has advised me that they are still seeking confirmation from the insurer as to how to deal with any claims but in the interim the estate has set up an email address for patients to contact to commence a process for determining whether they have a claim and if so, how to progress it.” Several patients said they had sent emails but were yet to receive a response or acknowledgment. Clara Hurst did not respond to questions from The Sunday Times on Friday. The 43-year-old mother-of-two is well known in Perth’s western suburbs as a glamorous cosmetician. She owns luxury Cottesloe salon Blanc and co-owns The Secret Skincare. She frequently graced the social pages of newspapers and magazines. Trained as a dentist, she was a director of Hurst Group Pty Ltd from July 2016 until March 2021. The couple lived at their Claremont home, which they bought for $6.5 million in December 2023. David Hurst took his own life at Burswood Resort on December 10. Following the shock death and despite her own trauma, his widow stepped in to caretake the business. “(She) took advice from her lawyer on all matters and believed that this was a good and profitable business ... At no point did she suspect the company was insolvent until 26 February when the amount of (patient prepayments) became clear,” Mr Hughes reported to creditors in March. “It appears that the underlying insolvency had been hidden by (her husband),” he added. Mr Hughes told creditors it appeared David Hurst had withdrawn significant funds from the company — $7.1 million overall — in excess of profits earned. “The funds were withdrawn from the company’s trading account which contained money provided by patients in the form of prepayments for dental work which had not been commenced or only partially completed,” he said. Mr Hughes was initially engaged by Clara Hurst in mid-January to review the financial circumstances of the Perth Dental Rooms business in Raine Square and to assist in stabilising it. He was then appointed administrator on March 6 after the parlous state of the company’s finances became clear. Creditors voted to wind-up the company last month. Perth Dental Rooms was sold earlier this month to another dentist, but the sale proceeds don’t cover the company’s liabilities. Mr Hughes had been able to assist one patient make an insurance claim under David Hurst’s professional indemnity insurance, but when he was advised the policy was in the name of the deceased estate of David Hurst and not the company, he couldn’t do any more.. Mr Hughes said it appeared the company would have a claim against the deceased estate. However, he had been advised the estate was insolvent and a bankruptcy trustee may be appointed over it. The liquidator said he had no visibility over where David Hurst spent the funds, but a bankruptcy trustee could assist in tracing these funds. Under a contract with a lender, Dr Hurst was required to hold life insurance of at least $1.055 million, but it was unknown if this was an asset of the deceased estate. David Hurst had been allowed to practice in Australia despite a criminal conviction in his native Wales. He stole £15,584 (more than $32,000) from the UK’s National Health Service by forging patient declarations while working as a dentist in Bridgend, near Cardiff, in 2006 and 2007. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to 69 counts of theft at Cardiff Crown Court, where he was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and given a 200-hour community work order. Bruce Hamersley, whose new $70,000 implants broke six months after fitting, said the insurance hold-up was frustrating on top of everything else that had happened. “I have not received any details on how to make a claim,” he said. Another potential claimant, Graeme Bamber, said it was adding to his stress. “We have had very little communication about insurance claims and everything is on hold waiting to see if we can finally move on,” he said. The new owner of Perth Dental Rooms, Dr Kent Tan, said he was trying to assist the stricken patients with free consultations and discounted treatment to fix their teeth. “It’s a terrible situation, there’s so many patients and feel deeply for them,” he said “I do feel a sense of moral duty to help where I can and that’s why I’m inviting any patients that feel comfortable to return to the premises for a consultation so we can understand their experience. “One thing I have noticed is that Dr Hurst didn’t (keep) great records and notes, and I am just trying to get a baseline and an understanding of what treatment they’ve been recommended and what treatment they’ve had to date. “It’s my job now to find out is the recommended treatment an appropriate treatment, or is it an inappropriate treatment? Do they need something that’s completely different? Do they need something that’s less invasive and I’ve definitely seen a few of those. “It’s a quite a big task. I’ve been consulting there for two weeks now, I’ve probably seen maybe 25 to 30 of these patients. We are not looking to earn anything out of these patients, because they’ve just already paid so much already. “The revised plans I’m offering the patients are working out to be around 50 per cent on average of what they kind of lost (under the previous owner). It helps that some of the dentists here have volunteered to work for free. And the same with myself.” As previously reported, many of the patients were encouraged to pay for their implants by accessing their superannuation funds. David Hurst had also insisted they pay upfront, falsely stating that it was requirement to satisfy the Australian Tax Office. The case has highlighted the abuse of early release of superannuation funds on compassionate grounds. Access to the funds, meant to be a “last resort”, has created a lucrative racket for greedy and unscrupulous dentists, prompting the WA branch of the Australian Dental Association to call for the rules to be tightened and greater oversight. The scandal this week prompted WA’s new Health Minister Meredith Hammat to remind medical practitioners of their ethical responsibilities. “I expect all medical practitioners to adhere to high ethical standards,” she said. “I’d urge anybody planning to access their superannuation early on compassionate grounds to seek trusted advice and ensure you’re aware of the full implications of releasing that money.” David Hurst’s patients were asked to provide their private myGov usernames and passwords to his business, which used them to apply for the early release of super on their behalf. One patient was shocked to find out they’d applied for more money than he’d been quoted for the dental work. The ATO said “health practitioners and other third parties should not be requesting or collecting their patients myGov details or completing early release of super applications for their patients.” “Never share your myGov sign-in details with anyone,” a spokesperson said. “Applications for early access of super on compassionate grounds must only be completed by the person seeking the early release ... Where someone has shared their myGov details with a third party, they are responsible for any actions the third party takes on myGov. For early release of super applications, they could be liable for penalties if the application includes false or misleading statements.” Lifeline: 13 11 14.

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Dr David Hurst: Dumped dental patients urge widow Clara Hurst to assist with insurance claims

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The West Australian exclusiveDr David Hurst: Dumped dental patients urge widow Clara Hurst to assist with insurance claims

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Dr David Hurst: Dumped dental patients urge widow Clara Hurst to assist with insurance claims