The CEO of the Cairns and Hinterland Health Service has defended a decision to suspend two doctors who publicly expressed concerns about the way a suspected ebola case was handled.
The doctors will return to work tomorrow after an inquiry into the October incident cleared them of any serious wrongdoing.
Julie Hartley-Jones said the pair had to be stood down while the matter was investigated.
“Clinicians, or the subject of the investigation, are taken out of the situation to protect them and their interests and to give them time to prepare for the review and also to enable the investigation to happen with other members of staff that were involved,” she said.
“So that is normal practice and that is why the doctors were stood down at the time.”
A report into the Cairns Hospital’s handling of the suspected ebola case has recommended the service employ enough infectious diseases specialists to provide a year-round, 24-hour service.
Ms Jones said the service had already increased the number of infection control nurses at the hospital.
“Particularly where we’re positioned with an international airport, with our close borders, I think we need to look at infectious diseases and the expertise we provide here across the board and look at how we can improve and increase infectious diseases support locally,” she said.
The report also examined the hospital’s handling of tuberculosis cases but the details were redacted in the published version because of privacy concerns.
Queensland Health said the investigation found the Cairns and Hinterland Health Service had adequate policies and protocols in place to manage tuberculosis cases, including contact tracing.
However, it identified other concerns about the treatment of a patient, which it has referred to the state coroner and health ombudsman.