The Morris inquiry may not have the power to investigate clinical practices outside Bundaberg Hospital under a possible loophole in its terms of references, Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said yesterday.

Mr Springborg will write to Commissioner Tony MOrris today in a bid to seek his interpretation of the terms or reference.

The possible loophole emerges because it appears the royal commission can only make recommendations on clinical practice problems that go beyond Bundaberg Hospital and not investigate them.

Any wider investigations might have to be referred to the review team headed by Peter Forster which does not have the royal commission powers.

“They don’t have the power to compel people to testify or protect them when they do,” Mr Springborg said. “I would hope this is simply a loophole and not a dishonest action from the Government to create obstacles to finding out the full extent of the problems in the health system.”

Most other groups welcomed confirmation of the two inquiries yesterday although they said they had yet to digest the detail.

Carter Capner partner Ian Brown, who has retained about 100 victims who are expected to eventually seek compensation from the Government, said the terms of reference should only provide them with answers about what went wrong at the hospital.

“Former patients of the Bundaberg Hospital want to know just how and by how much their medical conditions have been worsened as a result of treatment by Dr Patel,” Mr Brown said. “They want an answer in a timely fashion, they don’t want this thing dragging out for 12 months to two years.”

Beryl Crosby, co-ordinator for the support group for victims and former patients of Dr Patel, yesterday expressed surprise that Sir Llew Edwards was still part of the inquiry team but felt Mr Morris would “take no nonsense and control the others”.

Ms Crosby received a phone call from Premier Peter Beattie yesterday to personally explain Sir Llew’s appointment.

She also said that patients wanted the wide-ranging Forster inquiry to openly and publicly discuss the issues that were plaguing Queensland Health.

“We spoke about the worries of it not being in the public glare, as we are hoping it will be as open as possible,” she said.

Ms Crosby said Queensland Health chief medical officer Gerry Fitzgerald had said problems in other health districts would be included in the royal commission.

“We are hoping (Mr Forster) would handle the inquiry with integrity and nothing gets lost along the way,” Ms Crosby said. “I was told the advantage is that the Forster inquiry can start straight away and pass relevant information to the royal commission.”

The Australian Medical Association welcomed the two inquiries yesterday, particularly Mr Forster’s review of the Queensland Health system.

President Bill Glasson said he would now pressure federal Health Minister Tony Abbott and other states to implement similar inquiries into their own health systems.

“There’s no point in just targeting Queensland, this is a national problem,” Dr Glasson said.

Nurses Union secretary Gay Hawksworth also welcomed the health reveiw.