Panel hearing summary 2020.0883

Decision of the Medical Board of Australia

Performance and professional standards panel 

Jurisdiction: Queensland
Date of Decision: 26 March 2020

Classification of Notification

Clinical Care - Inadequate or inappropriate follow up or review

Summary

The Board referred allegations that the Practitioner (a dermatologist) failed to adequately review a patient during the treating relationship. The Panel found that, although the Practitioner's conduct did not reflect best practise, in the specific circumstances of this case, the Practitioner's 'on the papers' review of the patient was adequate, but only where:

• the treatment being provided was safe and had already been initiated and proven effective for some time;
• the practitioners that had been involved in the patient's treatment prior to the Practitioner were experienced and the Practitioner had confidence in their opinions;
• at the relevant time, the Practitioner had enough information to hand about the patient's dermatological treatment history to be able to assess the appropriateness of the treatment. 

Accordingly, the Panel found that the Practitioner had no case to answer and decided that no further action should be taken.