TWO MORE "DR. DEATHS" IN QUEENSLAND PUBLIC HOSPITALS

And the government is doing nothing about it!

"An inept foreign doctor working at a Queensland regional hospital botched two operations, leaving one patient dead and another fighting for his life. Details of Queensland's second "Dr Death" were revealed by Liberal health spokesman Bruce Flegg as the scandal over inadequately trained overseas doctors deepened. His claims came as Premier Peter Beattie announced former Liberal deputy premier and doctor Sir Llew Edwards would be part of a sweeping royal commission into the health system.

Dr Flegg said the latest case was remarkably similar to that of disgraced former Bundaberg surgeon Dr Jayant Patel. It involved an Asian doctor deemed to be a specialist surgeon by the Queensland Medical Board, who was operating well beyond his capabilities. Despite being unqualified, the doctor performed an operation to remove a large tumour from a patient's stomach. The patient had to be transferred to Brisbane for emergency treatment, but died.

Dr Flegg said he had been told that another patient was left seriously ill after major surgery beyond the scope of the doctor. "This was identical to the Dr Patel case – a doctor deemed a specialist trying his hand at whatever came along," he said. Dr Flegg received the information from a senior Brisbane medical specialist this week.

Queensland Health documents revealed the foreign doctor was still working at the regional hospital and was registered to do so until January 2006.

Contradicting a medical board announcement giving a clean bill of health to the 1670 foreign doctors working in the state, Dr Flegg also revealed allegations that another foreign doctor employed as an anaesthetist at a regional hospital "caused brain damage on a regular basis". He said the allegations about the anaesthetist were contained in documents he had received from a "senior medical source attached to a professional college". The documents, shown to The Sunday Mail, contained "terrifying" details about the East European doctor. "He has no anaesthetist training at all and yet is allowed to practise as a deemed specialist anaesthetist," the documents said. "He has had several adverse reports submitted re his lack of anaesthetic skills, to the medical superintendent – including mainly patients suffering mild brain damage on a regular basis because of his lack of skills. "Many nurses will not work with him and one of the specific anaesthetic assistants has now refused to work with him."

The documents said the doctor's case highlighted the problems with the medical board's assessment of overseas-trained doctors. "His primary qualifications are in (a language) and these were all given to the board in the form of translations into English – no one has any idea of the truth of the translations," the documents said.

The documents also identified an Asian doctor, acting as an anaesthetist in Brisbane, who was also under the spotlight this week. "Over the last five years, his surgeons have complained so much re his lack of skills that he was sent to several other hospitals for review, where he was found to be substandard," the documents said. "He was redirected to do retraining but found to be unsuitable for the complicated cases undertaken and was refused further work there."

The documents said the doctor had been returned to his original hospital in Brisbane to do "simple lists". "Even there most surgeons refuse to work with him because of the complication rate of his anaesthetics. "It has got to the stage that the district manager recently directed he not be placed on after-hours call because of the danger he presents to patients – nor to be in the operating theatre without a junior doctor to watch him."

Complaints had been made to the medical board but no action was taken. "They were simply not prepared to take any action against him or revoke his registration despite numerous examples given of patient injury," the documents said. "This highlights the fact that even when doctors are referred to the board and are clearly shown to be incompetent, no action is taken."

Dr Flegg condemned the board's clean bill of health for foreign doctors as a "meaningless publicity stunt" and urged Health Minister Gordon Nuttall to look into the latest allegations. "The board did not check the authenticity of files . . . all they did was a simple Google search," he said. "We know there were examples of fraudulent medical degrees." Dr Flegg said the claims made against the two doctors – who were still practising – were terrifying for patients and he demanded the board deregister them immediately.

A spokesman for Mr Nuttall said he would not comment on unsubstantiated allegations and directed complainants to go to the medical board. Medical board executive officer Jim O'Dempsey said yesterday that a "sweeping" internal audit and review of registration papers had found that no doctors had falsified their documents.


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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation.

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