`$wpdb->get_results` reacting oddly

Hey all,

I have a query (below) that is behaving a little odd – Basically, if I echo $query and copy the result to PHPMyAdmin it works fine and I get the desired results, but in WordPress the result is nothing. Any body spot any mistakes at all?

Thanks.

$query = "
	SELECT *
	FROM $wpdb->posts
	LEFT JOIN $wpdb->postmeta ON ( $wpdb->posts.ID = $wpdb->postmeta.post_id )
	WHERE $wpdb->postmeta.meta_value LIKE '".$_GET['staff_search']."%'
	AND $wpdb->postmeta.meta_key = 'staff_surname'
	AND $wpdb->posts.post_status = 'publish';
	";
$staff = $wpdb->get_results($wpdb->prepare($query));