In a recent decision of the Professional Standards Committee Inquiry, a colorectal surgeon, Professor Morris, was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct for knowingly enabling an overseas based doctor, Dr Sugarbaker, who was not registered under the National Law, to perform surgery on a patient.
Professor Morris was involved in organising a colorectal surgery conference in Sydney in 2014. It was planned that Dr Sugarbaker would attend the conference and perform a televised procedure with Professor Morris for educational and training purposes. Professor Morris had been told by the hospital that Dr Sugarbaker could not operate and should not do anything on the patient.
The Committee also found that Professor Morris’ conduct was improper and unethical in failing to inform the patient that the unregistered doctor would be performing the surgery and may not have adequate professional indemnity insurance in relation to the surgery. At [119] the Committee held:
“It is unacceptable to withhold important information of this kind from a patient. Both the law and codes of medical ethics require informed consent from Patient A. To obtain consent, Professor Morris was obliged to provide full and frank disclosure in relation to Dr Sugarbaker’s role and limitations.”
The Committee’s decision can be found here.
