Hospital hiring flaws trigger statewide audit

The news

All Queensland hospital and health services will audit how they recruit, manage and monitor senior doctors after one was “pushed through” into an unadvertised and difficult-to-fill specialist role.

The findings of an investigation ordered by Queensland Health Director-General David Rosengren and released on Friday night revealed “significant concerns” around the processes used to hire one doctor in Mackay, and minor issues more broadly.

“This is an opportunity to apply scrutiny to processes across the entire state,” Queensland Health’s David Rosengren said.Credit: Stuart Layt

Commending Mackay Base Hospital for already taking swift action, Rosengren said in a statement he would use the opportunity to “apply scrutiny to processes across the entire state” to stop similar situations from occurring.

Why it matters

The powerful internal review was ordered in January after Mackay doctors raised concerns about the roles and supervision of some non-specialist doctors working under specialists.

The review looked at whether senior medical officers were working within the bounds of their role, competency and training between January 2023 and December 2024.

Mackay Base Hospital was commended for taking swift action in the case.Credit: Google Maps

It followed an earlier clinical review into the workload and scope of one senior Mackay Base Hospital doctor, and comes amid nationwide workforce shortages.

What they said

While the recruitment process for the doctor, referred to as Case Alpha, resulted in only a low risk to patient care, such a situation could potentially result in an unfit candidate being selected.

Many details of the case were redacted, however the recruitment process was found to have been the result of a “protracted attempt” to find a suitably qualified specialist.

The process failed to meet local and state policies and procedures by not advertising for the role, not having a selection panel, and only having one appropriate referee.

“The fact that Case Alpha was ‘pushed through’ due to urgent need appears to have led to the standard processes not being applied, and in this sense, a lack of governance,” the report states.

“There was also a lack of evidence of anyone questioning the appointment processes or timeframes.”

Despite the doctor in Case Alpha requiring supervision, and this not being documented, the review found that such supervision did, in fact, occur.

Of the 37 senior doctors recruited in the review period, Case Alpha was the only one that was not “adequately compliant”. Others included some “minor or low-level non-compliance”.

The most frequent problem among those remaining cases was recruitment panel chairs not having carried out recruitment and selection training.

The report’s 11 recommendations call for this training to be done, the chief medical officer to be more directly involved in signing off on new hires, and a potential boost to the number of staff who hire and check doctors’ credentials.

What’s next

Mackay Hospital and Health Service has developed a plan to act on all the recommendations and give quarterly updates, starting from October.

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