Health authorities bungled the case of a Melbourne man accused of deliberately spreading the deadly AIDS virus, Victoria State's Health Minister Bronwyn Pike has conceded. Pike said a "communication breakdown" led to the state's Chief Health Officer, Robert Hall, never receiving advice from his expert panel on HIV to lock up the man. The panel recommended on 31st January last year that Michael John Neal be detained, four months before he was arrested for attempting to infect 16 men with HIV over five years. Documents obtained by The Age Newspaper show the panel was asked earlier that month to review allegations against Neal. Neal, 48, is accused of trying to infect his 16th alleged victim in the period between the recommendation and his arrest in May. The Howard Government's chief adviser on HIV, Michael Wooldridge, and the Victorian Opposition have called for Dr Hall to be sacked. Pike criticised the "partisan" intervention of Dr Wooldridge, the former Liberal federal health minister, and said his knowledge of the issue was "tissue thin". She supported Dr Hall, saying he would remain the Chief Health Officer. The Government has ordered an investigation into the Department of Human Services' handling of the case, the second probe in 12 months. Pike said she became aware of the case after police seized Neal's files a year ago and she immediately asked the department to review its procedures. "They (the Department of Human Services) are satisfied there was a communication breakdown … between the panel and Dr Hall," she said. A spokesman for Pike said Dr Hall did not receive the panel's advice. It came to light only after Neal was arrested. Last month, Dr Hall said in court that the department's referral of Neal's case to police was triggered not by several complaints over five years that the HIV-infected Neal was having unprotected sex, but by an allegation that he possessed child pornography. Pike said she and Dr Hall, having last met on Friday, agreed that the case could have been better handled and improvements were needed. "On the basis of those discussions he will continue to remain in his role," she said. Documents show that an advisory panel recommended in January last year that Neal be "isolated in the interests of public health". The Health Act empowers Dr Hall to detain someone who poses a risk to public health. This story continues on the link below. Ref: Related links: Ref: The Age (m)