PATIENTS not being guaranteed to see a specialist after referral by GPs to Cairns Hospital has been labelled entirely inappropriate by one of the state’s top doctors.
GP support agency FNQ Docs has expressed shock at the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service’s chief executive Julie Hartley-Jones’ comments last week that patients referred by doctors to the specialist outpatient waiting list were not guaranteed an appointment with specialist doctors.
There are more than 17,000 patients waiting for an appointment to see a specialist through the health service.
CHHHS is carrying out an audit of more than 24,000 patients who have been removed from the list over the past 12 months, prior to an appointment with a specialist.
It follows an incident last week where Gordonvale woman Vivian Lewis, who waited six months for a colonoscopy, was removed from the list, without her or her doctor being informed.
Australian Medical Association’s Queensland president Dr Shaun Rudd said Ms Lewis’s incident was uncommon.
“It would be very unusual to remove somebody from the waiting list unless the patient has either agreed to it, or was contacted about it,’’ he said.
He said there could be cases where a patient was seen by an allied health professional rather than a specialist doctor.
However, he said it could be a “major problem” if GPs were not being made aware of these changes, particularly if a patient was not able to see another doctor at all.
“There are no guarantees in life, but one would like to think that when a doctor refers a patient into the hospital to see a specialist, that’s who you would see,’’ Dr Rudd said.
“Of course, when you are teaching junior doctors or even some senior doctors through the clinic, they may see these patients as well.
“But usually they discuss that with the specialist at the time.
“But to not see a doctor at all, it is inappropriate. If you’re not aware when you’re referring a patient, that may happen.”
The health service has said patients could be removed from the waiting list if: a clinical review or audit found an appointment was no longer required; if a patient went somewhere else for treatment; if the appointment was declined without a valid reason; if a patient failed to attend their appointment; or they could not be contacted via letter or phone.
But the Together Union said some patients had complained of not being able to get in contact with the service to ensure they stay on the list.
Dr Rudd agreed with the comments of Ms Hartley-Jones last week that patients on the waiting list still remained under the care of their primary healthcare provider, most commonly a GP.
“There’s no doubt the GP is still the person responsible for the patient,” he said.
Source: Cairns Post