EXCLUSIVE
Sparked changes: The neurosurgeon who operated unhindered for years under the influence of drugs, Suresh Nair, is led from the King Street Supreme Court. Photo: Nick Moir
Health complaint bodies will be forced to disclose the disciplinary records of doctors to hospitals as part of new reforms aimed at improving patient safety.
Until now, have been no procedures to warn employers of a doctor’s past impairment, such as drug or alcohol addiction, which might affect their performance.
The regulatory shortfall was exposed during a joint FairfaxMedia/Four Corners investigation into Sydney neurosurgeon Suresh Nair, who was allowed to continue operating within the NSW health system – even though authorities knew he was a cocaine addict.
The legislative changes triggered by that expose mean the NSW Health Practitioner Councils must now notify hospitals of any conditions imposed on a doctor’s registration – including assessments, reviews and drug and alcohol urine testing. Health councils are also obligated to advise all complainants about the outcome of any investigations into their care.
Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the changes mean doctors can now be both “monitored and supported, thereby safeguarding patient care”.
In May, The Sun-Herald published revelations regarding Nair, a neurosurgeon at both Nepean Public and Private Hospitals, who was allowed to perform complex procedures on hundreds of patients, despite the Medical Council of NSW and the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) having both, at various times since 2004, addressed his “severe impairment”.
However, the HCCC only revoked his licence in 2010 – after police arrested him and laid criminal charges in relation to the death of escort Suellen Domingues Zaupa, who died in Nair’s home from a cocaine overdose. She was the second female escort to fatally overdose in his company, after Victoria Mcintyre died nine months earlier.
In 2009, Nair was barred from operating at Nepean Public Hospital, only to be employed several hundred metres away at neighbouring Nepean Private – which states it was never informed about Nair’s drug-related history. Consequently, the rogue doctor continued to operate while indulging in all-night drug binges. In doing so, he wrecked numerous lives through botched operations.
During The Sun-Herald’s investigation, internal room records from Sydney brothel Liaisons came to light, revealing that in the September weeks either side of patient Carla Downes’ third botched procedure, Nair spent $58,000 on sex and drugs on the premises. In a further bitter blow to Mrs Downes, she was repeatedly denied the findings of an HCCC investigation into her treatment – simply because Nair chose not to fight the charges of negligence due to be brought against him.
Rhonda Taylor, from Mudgee, was another patient whose spinal fusion under Nair went horribly wrong that year.
“Finally, something has been done,” she said when hearing of the new legislation last week.
“This is absolutely fantastic. It doesn’t change what happened to me and others who were injured because of Nair. But at least in the future, there is no excuse … no hiding place … for hospitals who hire dodgy doctors with a history of negligence.”
After Nair served four years jail for charges relating to the two sex workers’ deaths, his permanent residency was cancelled and he was deported to his native Malaysia.
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