Nick Coatsworth is an Australian infectious diseases expert. He was Australia's deputy chief medical officer[1] during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he regularly appeared in print and on radio and television to provide the public with information.
Coatsworth was educated at Wesley College in South Perth which he attended between 1985 and 1995.[3] At Wesley he was awarded the Philip Goatcher Scholarship for Years 11 and 12.[3] He also spent five years on the school's debating team which he believes helped to prepare him for communicating with the public.[3]
Coatsworth is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. His specialties are respiratory medicine and infectious diseases.[5] He is currently director of infectious diseases at Canberra Hospital.[6]
His other roles have included executive director at the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre in Darwin.[5] He has also lectured in Medicine at the Australian National University.[7][8]
Coatsworth led humanitarian teams in the Congo and the Darfur region of Sudan for Medicins Sans Frontiers when he was 25,[9] a task that he says left him with PTSD.[10] He told the Today programme: "I think everyone has their limits in life and I kind of reached that, the security situation there was really difficult. There was the threat of assassination of people in the place where we were." After returning home, Coatsworth became anxious: "I felt like I was having these heart palpitations ... At the end of 2019 it got to the point one weekend I couldn't leave the house." He took anxiety medication to resolve the issue.[10]
He was elected to the board of Medicins Sans Frontiers in Australia in 2008. He served as the board's president in 2010 and 2011.[5][11][12]
In 2023, Coatsworth joined the Australian Patients Association as Ambassador for Health Reform.[13]
In 2024, Coatsworth became a clinical governance advisor for GP telehealth company Eucalyptus.[14]
During the Covid Pandemic
In 2020, during the Covid Pandemic, Coatsworth was appointed as Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer. As the only hospital-based practising clinician in the team of deputies, his role initially involved dealing with hospitals and health services.[15]
However, Coatsworth became one of the government's key public-facing experts, appearing regularly in press conferences[16][17][18] and on television programmes to talk about the virus. This led to him being labelled a 'household name' by the media.[19][20]
He was appointed by Australia’s then top health adviser Brendan Murphy one of three deputy chief medical officers.[19]
Coatsworth has been outspoken about elements of how Australia handled COVID-19. His positions include:
Australians did not require a fourth vaccine shot and that he would not be having one.[19]
Lockdown restrictions went on for too long.[21][19]
Promises to eradicate the virus in its early stages were misguided.[19]
Media work
Coatsworth has written opinion pieces for publications including:
In 2021 he starred in television adverts on behalf of the Australian government about COVID-19 vaccinations.[47][48]
In 2023 Coatsworth filled in as presenter of Today while regular host Karl Stefanovic took Christmas leave. His appointment left "plenty of noses out of joint" due to his perceived inexperience.[49]
Other platforms
He has also been interviewed on radio[50][51] and for podcasts[52][53]
Personal life
Coatsworth is married to Dr Rebecca Pearson, a lung transplant physician.[54] They have three children.[55][19]
