Unregistered doctor with ‘criminal record’ treated patients in SA hospital

SA Well being this afternoon launched the outcomes of two experiences into what CEO Robyn Lawrence on Might 4 referred to as a “utterly unacceptable” state of affairs, after it was discovered the the person handled at the very least 15 sufferers at Port Augusta Hospital from April 24 to Might 2.

The primary report by Henderson Horrocks examined how the unregistered physician gained entry to the hospital, whereas a second by Professor Alan Sandford targeted on insurance policies and processes which led to the person “being thought-about as an acceptable potential worker”.

The Henderson Horrocks report delved into SA Well being’s recruitment course of, throughout which the person failed to supply info, “prevaricated and lied”.

The report mentioned the person – recognized solely as PI (Potential Intern) – was an Australian citizen with a global medical diploma who utilized for an intern place with the Flinders and Higher North Native Well being Community (FUNLHN) in late 2022, regardless of not being registered as a health care provider in Australia.

He utilized for registration in early 2023, and the report mentioned he intentionally withheld info from FUNLHN whereas it waited for approval earlier than using him.

“It’s clear from PI’s failure to reveal his registration historical past in (redacted) that PI was cognisant that this historical past would have negatively impacted any regulatory company or hospital’s determination to register him,” the report mentioned.

“From 28 November 2022, when PI lodged his internship utility till 3 Might 2023, PI wilfully and intentionally didn’t disclose his legal and disciplinary historical past to FUNLHN. He did so, suspecting that if they’d recognized about his legal and disciplinary historical past, they might not have employed him.”

The report mentioned that the “vital scarcity of junior docs in FUNLHN” and an lack of ability to search out interns “had been driving components within the acceptance of a late utility from a far-from-ideal applicant”.

“Flaws within the recruitment and choice course of allowed PI, a person with an expert disciplinary historical past and a legal historical past of deception and dishonesty round registration, to proceed by the recruitment and choice course of with out severe scrutiny,” it mentioned, citing a scarcity of questioning the person’s CV and referees in addition to background checks.

The report mentioned that FUNLHN Medical Training Unit officers who had been unaware of his background invited him to an Intern Orientation Program, and that on account of a a “misguided expectation based mostly on expertise that an intern could be registered and credentialled shortly after orientation”, he was given lodging and a Whyalla Hospital entry card. He was additionally named as a brand new intern in a workers publication and on social media and included on an inside junior physician timetable.

This “created the phantasm to anyone exterior of the recruitment and onboarding processes that PI was an worker and due to this fact registered”, the report mentioned.

By April 24, 2023, Port Augusta Hospital workers believed PI “was a registered, employed intern beginning his second rotation” at their hospital and he was given an entry card after he “misrepresented himself beginning his rotation in ED that day”.

The report mentioned that the Medical Training Unit had “comprehensible however unacceptable belief” {that a} medical graduate awaiting registration wouldn’t lie about being registered or deal with sufferers with out being registered, and will have advised Affected person Providers that PI was not allowed to start out work till they authorised it.

PI then lied to Port Augusta Hospital emergency division workers that he was a brand new intern and labored there on six days, the report mentioned. On at the very least 4 events after, the report mentioned, the MEU advised him he couldn’t work within the ED as he was not registered or credentialled, and he failed to inform them he was.

The report made plenty of suggestions, with the primary being {that a} Google search be made on all candidates, together with legal and worldwide historical past checks, that new and clearer tips for assessing and deciding on junior docs be developed and that potential interns not be given entry playing cards, be listed on inside rosters or workers communications.

The Australian Well being Practitioner Regulation Authority is holding a separate investigation into the incident.

SA Well being CEO Robyn Lawrence mentioned this afternoon that the report findings had been accepted and suggestions could be labored by to “be certain our hiring processes are as thorough and strong as the general public expects them to be”.

Supported by the Authorities of South Australia