Page 4075 - Week 13 - Thursday, 6 December 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
12 April 2007. The ACT Health Clinical Privileges Committee is an approved public sector clinical privileges committee under the Health Act 1993.
The committee was established in September 2006 in order to manage one function, that being the extraordinary review of clinical privileges in accord with the ACT Health policy entitled “Management of a complaint or concern about the clinical competence of a clinician.” This committee conducts its review independent of ACT Health management. The Chairman of the Clinical Privileges Committee was first advised of the complaint about the provision of plastic and reconstructive surgery services at TCH and Calvary Public Hospital, with a particular focus on the performance of Dr X, in mid-April 2007 following receipt of all required documents from the complainant.
This original complaint included nine cases. The committee was notified of one additional case in June 2007, five additional cases in July 2007 and one additional case in September 2007. The initial investigation undertaken by CPC members involved a detailed consideration and review of the complaints and corresponding medical records of all 16 cases, as well as other relevant documentation, including reports of investigations conducted by the Community and Health Services Complaints Commissioner and an oral and written response to the complaints that was prepared by Dr X. The committee met in May, September and December 2007 in relation to the complaint.
In October 2007, to ensure a robust investigative process, the Clinical Privileges Committee referred all complaints to an independent expert, Professor David David, Professor of Craniofacial Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide, for external review. Professor David is a highly esteemed member of the medical community with a history of significant experience and major achievements in the medical specialties of plastic reconstructive surgery and oral maxillofacial surgery. Professor David conducted an external review of the complaints in November 2007.
In accord with the terms of reference of the external review, Professor David’s investigation of the complaint involved a detailed review of the clinical records of all 16 cases and other relevant documentation, including reports of investigations conducted by the Community and Health Services Complaints Commissioner; correspondence provided to the CPC detailing the nature of the complaints; Dr X’s performance data available from both hospitals; and the written defence, and other relevant documentation, including the curriculum vitae and research publications, of Dr X.
In the review of the clinical records, CPC members and Professor David were guided by the CanMEDS 2005 physician competency framework. The CanMEDS 2005 physician competency framework was developed by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons to describe the principal abilities that medical practitioners should be able to display. This framework is oriented to optimal health and healthcare outcomes.
Following Professor David’s review, the Clinical Privileges Committee met in December 2007 to reach its final conclusions on the matter and to provide a report to ACT Health. Each of the 16 cases was reviewed independently by the committee and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .