Panel hearing summary 2020.0890

Decision of the Medical Board of Australia

Performance and professional standards panel 

Jurisdiction: Western Australia
Date of Decision: 29 September 2020

Classification of Notification

Clinical care - Inadequate or inappropriate treatment

Summary

The Board referred an allegation that the Practitioner, who was a Physician specialising in Nephrology, had failed to provide adequate and appropriate treatment to a patient during her admission to a hospital, in light of the patient's elevated respiratory rate and low oxygen saturations during her admission, and despite multiple Medical Emergency Team (MET) calls in relation to concerns about the patient's respiratory rate.

The Panel formed the view that there was a high demand on the Practitioner at the relevant time due to low staffing levels. While the Panel found that there were some shortcomings with respect to the Practitioner's clinical management of the patient, the Panel considered that these shortcomings did not amount to a failure (which rests solely on the Practitioner) to provide adequate and appropriate treatment to the patient. The Panel noted that the Practitioner had learnt from the circumstances of the relevant case and that the inherent likelihood of him engaging in similar behaviour was low.

Accordingly, the Panel found that the Practitioner had no case to answer and decided that no further action was to be taken in relation to the matter.