Finding of professional misconduct for failing to appropriately treat a patient for mental illness and drug dependency
The Tribunal had to consider three complaints made by the Health Care Complains Commission (HCCC) against Daryl Chamberlain, who was until 9 June 2017 a medical practitioner registered under the National Law. It was alleged Dr Chamberlain was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct as he had failed to engage in proper and ethical conduct relating to the treatment of Patient A.
Dr Chamberlain was Patient A's general practitioner from 2 May 2000 to 11 September 2012. Patient A was seen more or less regularly throughout this time. On 16 September 2012, Patient A died. A subsequent Coronial Inquest by the NSW State Coroner found that the cause of Patient A's death was combined drug toxicity. At inquest, the Coroner recommended that the HCCC investigate the professional standards of Dr Chamberlain. This culminated in the HCCC lodging an application in the Tribunal for disciplinary findings and orders against Dr Chamberlain.
The HCCC alleged that Dr Chamberlain, between 2 May 2000 and 11 September 2012 failed to provide appropriate care, treatment, and management in relation to Patient A's mental Health condition, in that he did not develop and maintain an appropriate treatment plan for Patient A, did not appropriately assess Patient A during consultations or review the type and dosage of medications prescribed to Patient A in relation to his symptoms, including the prescription of Quetiapine. Further, it was alleged Dr Chamberlain failed to adequately manage a hernia suffered by Patient a in October 2010, by failing to have it reviewed until 9 months after the initial injury. Finally, it was alleged that Dr Chamberlain failed to adequately manage Patient A's drug dependence and abuse on 111 occasions, by failing to develop and maintain an adequate treatment plan, failing to attempt to reduce Patient A's opiate use and failing to attempt to establish whether Patient A was receiving medication from other practitioners. During this time Dr Chamberlain also prescribed opiates and benzodiazepines to patient A. In treating Patient A, Dr Chamberlain violated the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 (NSW) controls on the prescription of Morphine and Oxycodone, both of which were Type C drugs of addiction. Throughout his treatment of Patient A, Dr Chamberlain failed to maintain adequate medical records. It was contended Dr Chamberlain's conduct warranted strong criticism and amounted to professional misconduct.
Findings
Dr Chamberlain admitted that his conduct amounted to professional misconduct. It was of relevance to the Tribunal's determination that Dr Chamberlain was 79 years old at the time of hearing and permanently retired from practice. The Tribunal held that if Dr Chamberlain were still registered, his conduct would have fallen so far short of the standard expected of a competent medical practitioner that his registration would have been cancelled.
Although Dr Chamberlain's registration had been voluntarily cancelled, the Tribunal considered it appropriate to make orders to protect the public from similar misconduct or incompetence from other practitioners and to explicitly identify conduct which did not meet the standards of the profession required to uphold public confidence. Accordingly, Dr Chamberlain was disqualified from making an application for reinstatement for a period of two years from the date of the orders and the National Board was required to record the fact that the Tribunal would have cancelled Dr Chamberlain's registration in the National Registry if he were registered. Dr Chamberlain was required to pay costs.
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