The Queensland premier has asked for an investigation into how a cardiothoracic surgeon – previously restricted from performing major heart and lung surgery by the New South Wales medical regulator – was appointed to a senior government clinical safety position.
The deputy director general of Clinical Excellence Queensland, Dr Helen Brown, announced Dr Michael Byrom as the inaugural surgical medical lead for the organisation, which focuses on healthcare quality, safety and efficiency.
An email from Brown to staff sent on Tuesday said: “In this new surgical lead role, Dr Byrom will lead the establishment of the Surgical Quality Assurance Committee to identify and address systemic issues contributing to preventable surgical morbidity and mortality”.
In 2020, the Medical Council of NSW imposed conditions on Byrom’s medical registration in order to protect the public, restricting him to performing only simple procedures and preventing him from supervising medical students.
He was required to undergo supervision and retraining in areas including technical skills, clinical judgment, decision-making and communication.
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The conditions followed a four-year period in which regulators examined a series of clinical incidents at Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney. The investigation occurred following complaints raised by former colleagues who were concerned by post-surgical deaths. Byrom said at the time that he denied the allegations and that he said were lodged by former business partners motivated by malice.
At the time, Byrom agreed to the conditions placed on him and told The Australian that complaints about patient deaths were unfounded, that his surgical results were found during a Medical Council investigation to be consistent with his surgical peers, and that the council’s assessment of his performance found no evidence of risk to the safety of his patients.
The conditions also banned him from supervising trainee surgeons for a period of time. The conditions were all met and he completed the required training, with no conditions remaining in place restricting his practising.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said on Wednesday that Byrom was appointed to Clinical Excellence Queensland “following a rigorous recruitment process that included extensive background checks and full transparency”.
Byrom no longer has any conditions placed on his practising, the spokesperson said.
“We welcome the appointment of Dr Byrom given his wealth of knowledge and experience in cardiothoracic surgery, surgical quality improvement and clinical governance,” the spokesperson said.
Asked about the appointment at a press conference in Brisbane on Wednesday, Queensland premier David Crisafulli said he has asked for an investigation into the appointment.
“Well, it’s concerning, and I’ve asked the minister to get to the bottom of it,” Crisafulli said.
“It wasn’t the minister’s appointment, that appointment was made through Queensland Health, but I’ve asked the minister to get to the bottom of it… he’ll be investigating and getting to the bottom of it, I assure you.”
Dr Marie Bismark, a public health physician and health lawyer at the University of Melbourne, said many concerns about doctors are often resolved without formal regulatory action.
“So for a medical board or other regulator to impose conditions on a doctor’s practice, that would only happen if there are risks to the public, if those risks can’t be managed in any other way.”
She said while clinicians make mistakes and should be allowed to redeem themselves through education and change, “I would think that it would be reasonable for the public to want some kind of explanation about what has changed since the conditions were imposed and the reasoning behind the appointment, and to be satisfied that this practitioner is now safe”.
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