Court sides with gp warns against extreme regulation of doctors

Court sides with GP, warns against ‘extreme regulation of doctors’ | Medical Observer

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Court sides with GP, warns against ‘extreme regulation of doctors’ Paddy Wood (/author/paddy-wood) 16 February 2016

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16/02/2016

Court sides with GP, warns against ‘extreme regulation of doctors’ | Medical Observer

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A QUEENSLAND court has warned against the “extreme regulation of doctors” while scrapping a bid by the Medical Board to impose conditions on the specialist registration of a GP with a chequered disciplinary record.

The board wanted Dr Christopher Alroe, who completed a fellowship with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine in 2014, to submit to a period of mentoring as a condition of his specialist registration.

The board cited Dr Alroe’s disciplinary record, including several years of deregistration after a sexual relationship with a former patient and, more recently, a finding of misconduct for breaching prescribing conditions.

It also cited his alleged failure to demonstrate “any remorse for his actions or understanding of the seriousness of his conduct that was the subject of various proceedings”.

Dr Alroe contended that the board was overly subjective and that its position was vague and backed by insufficient evidence.

He argued that he had previously completed extensive training and mentorship at his own cost, and said that any lack of remorse was irrelevant because he denied misconduct.

He further submitted that prescribing conditions imposed on his registration in 2014, after he was found guilty of professional misconduct for inappropriate prescribing, did not include mentoring.

It followed, he said, that such an order should only be extended if circumstances had changed or if practise as a specialist GP differed significantly from regular general practice.

The tribunal said the case was finely balanced and that it “might reasonably decide in favour of either”.

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/professional-news/court-sides-with-gp-warns-ag...

16/02/2016

Court sides with GP, warns against ‘extreme regulation of doctors’ | Medical Observer

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However, it said, there was “real doubt” about the need or efficacy of any future mentorship given his adequate completion of previous programs, adding that his affidavit demonstrated that he acknowledged his past behaviour.

“In this case, it is hard to see why the proposed or any alternatively ordered registration condition is really needed to close a gap between unfit and fit enough.”

It also cautioned that “conditions are not shields for risk-averse regulatory bodies to push or pull for purposes of self-protection from potential (fair or unfair) criticism”.

“Care must be taken to ensure that intensifying consumerism does not result in extreme regulation of doctors in the futile hope of meeting unrealistic patient and public (often media-driven) expectations.

“A regulatory encroachment is only warranted if it makes clinical practice safer or more effective.”

The Medical Board has been ordered to cover Dr Alroe’s court costs. In a previous proceeding, he was ordered to pay $90,000 to cover the board’s costs.

MORE • Alroe (http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2015/QCAT15-482.pdf) v Medical Board of Australia [2015] QCAT 482 (http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2015/QCAT15-482.pdf) Tags: Legal (/tags/legal), Court (/tags/court), Medical Board Of Australia (/tags/medical-

board-of-australia), General Practice (/tags/general-practice)

Author: Paddy Wood Digital Editor Paddy joined Medical Observer in 2015 from the Australian Associated Press, where he ran the agency’s technology coverage before joining the Sydney bureau to report on crime, politics and courts. His stories have appeared in The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Korea Herald, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and others.

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/professional-news/court-sides-with-gp-warns-ag...

16/02/2016