Canberra Hospital maternity unit given six months training approval

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Canberra Hospital’s troubled maternity unit has received a further six months accreditation for its training program, as it deals with long-running management and cultural problems. 

In September, a review completed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists gave the hospital six-months accreditation for training of young doctors, the shortest possible period awarded by the professional standards body.

An audit found serious concerns about bullying, staffing arrangements and said patient and staff care could have been put at risk.  

On Tuesday, ACT Health said the college had extended training accreditation for the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children for a further six months, until October.

Limited accreditation is imposed where serious concerns about standards exist inside training hospitals. A further critical report could have seen Canberra Hospital lose its accreditation to train doctors.

Director General Peggy Brown said the new accreditation came as staffing improvements were made at the hospital and other recommendations were acted on.

A new clinical director will start work in April, after current director Steven Adair resigned in November

Dr Brown has previously rejected the claim any patient was put at risk by problems inside the unit, which date back at least five years. 

She said officials had “made a number of staffing changes for junior and senior medical staff and begun looking at options to address the level of demand within the service which impacts on the overall workload, including for RANZCOG trainees and their supervisors.

“ACT Health is committed to implementing the changes necessary to see the hospital receive continued accreditation as a facility for training the next generation of doctors specialising in women’s health,” Dr Brown said. 

Work will continue on the timing of training, appropriate study leave for doctors, the availability of ultrasound training and supervised clinical experience in the many procedures expected of an obstetrician and gynaecologist.

College president Professor Michael Permezel said officials had given an undertaking to meet the conditions required for continued training accreditation.