There’s no evidence to suggest foreign-trained doctors are making more mistakes than those trained in Australia, Queensland’s health minister says.
Investigations have been launched into a urologist who is accused of botching four operations at the Rockhampton hospital, including removing the wrong kidney from one patient.
Health Minister Lawrence Springborg says the focus must be on improving systems to reduce medical mistakes, and focusing on the doctor’s training overseas is muddying the real issue.
He said the doctor at the heart of the allegations trained in Spain but went on to gain specialist qualifications in London where he was awarded honours.
When he came to Australia he underwent two further years of training and won accreditation in 2011 to practise unsupervised, including the right to train other doctors.
“There are hundreds of Australian doctors that gained their specialist qualifications overseas, and many Australian doctors who gained their primary qualifications overseas,” Mr Springborg said.
“There’s no real evidence that we have a greater problem with foreign-trained doctors than others.
“We deal every year with many complains against doctors involving adverse events and a significant proportion of those are actually trained in Australia.”
The challenge for health authorities was to improve systems to prevent mistakes from being made, alongside robust systems to ensure doctors are properly credentialled and their work properly reviewed.
“The focus on foreign training cheapens the whole thing. I don’t think that’s what this is really about.”
The Rockhampton Hospital’s director of surgery and the acting executive director of medical services have both been sacked over the allegations involving the surgeon.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the Medical Board of Australia are still considering whether to revoke the urologist’s registration.
He’s lost his right to practise at the Rockhampton hospital, pending the outcome of various investigations, and he’s also agreed to suspend his work at Rockhampton’s private Mater Misericordiae Hospital.
Source: AAP