Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital is in danger of losing its status as a training facility. Source: News Limited
QUEENSLAND’S largest public hospital has gone into damage control after being issued a formal warning it risks losing its accreditation as a training facility for junior doctors in obstetrics and gynaecology.
The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital has been granted provisional accreditation until August but only if administrators agree to a series of commitments, including hiring three more consultants.
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Representatives of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have visited the hospital five times since 2011 amid ongoing concerns about its performance as a training unit.
Metro North Hospital and Health Service acting CEO Terry Mehan has agreed to setting up a task force to ensure the RBWH retains its status as a training venue.
He stressed the issues raised by the college were unrelated to patient safety, but rather focused on junior doctors being able to perform a minimum number of procedures to fulfil their training obligations.
He said hospital rosters also needed to be adjusted to guarantee sufficient teaching time for trainees in obstetrics and gynaecology.
“We need to reprofile our workforce so that we have the right mix of trainees and the right mix of consultants,” Mr Mehan said. “We may have a few too many trainees to get their procedure numbers up and work an effective roster. We may reduce the amount of trainees that we take on.”
It comes as the Metro North HHS board is about to advertise for a new CEO after last month terminating the contract of Malcolm Stamp, effective from January 17.
Mr Stamp is under investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission over nepotism allegations.