AHPRA overhaul as shocking report reveals suicide rates of under-investigation practitioners

A respected Adelaide obstetrician’s widow says doctors are “pleading for help”, as shocking research reveals 16 under-investigation practitioners have taken their own lives.

Glandore obstetrician Dr Yen-Yung Yap took his own life in 2020 following an anonymous complaint to AHPRA.

The widow of a respected Adelaide obstetrician says families are being “torn apart” by the nation’s medical regulator, as shocking new research reveals 16 healthcare workers died by suicide over four years while under investigation.

A groundbreaking report into the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) found that 16 healthcare workers had taken their own lives and another four had attempted after being reported to the industry body between January 2018 and December 2021.

Glandore obstetrician Dr Yen-Yung Yap took his own life in 2020 aged 43, leaving behind his wife and three young children, amid a two-year investigation into an anonymous report made to AHPRA.

Medical regulators were investigating Dr Yap’s care of patients and in March banned him from performing vaginal births without supervision – and at his own expense – after a complaint about his use of suctions to deliver two babies.

Dr Yap’s wife, Mei-Khing Loo, who has battled ongoing health complications she attributes to the trauma of her husband’s death, said there was “no justice” for doctors who were “failed” by AHPRA.

Mei-Khing Loo's husband Dr Yen-Yung Yap took his own life in 2020, while under investigation by AHPRA. Picture: Tom Huntley

Dr Yen-Yung Yap and wife Mei-Khing Loo with their children Edwin, Joyce and Michelle. Picture: Supplied

Under AHPRA’s reporting system, complaints can be made anonymously and do not require supporting evidence.

“I believe he took his life because of the stress of AHPRA doing its investigations,” Ms Loo said.

“It has torn my family apart. That’s the consequence of these investigations, they break apart families – I think a lot of other families have gone through the same as me.”

Despite her pleas, Ms Loo said AHPRA denied her repeated requests to complete the investigation into her late husband.

“I said to them, ‘if my husband did anything wrong to the patient or to the public, please let me know … but if my husband didn’t do anything wrong, please apologise to me and my children – it’s damaged their reputation as well’,” she said.

“But they never did.”

There are more than 850,000 healthcare practitioners in Australia and AHPRA receives 10,000 complaints on average per year.

Of those, no action is taken in roughly 8000 cases, while “low or small” disciplinary action – such as conditions on a licence – is the preferred option in most of the remaining 2000 cases.

Ms Loo said she hoped researchers’ tragic findings would prompt an overhaul of the reporting process, saving other families from the trauma she and her children endured.

“We need to change the system, the system is breaking down. You could see that when my husband died,” Ms Loo said.

“Doctors are pleading for help – and they need help too.”

Medical and health law specialist Jaswinder Sekhon, principal at national firm Goldman Law, was acting for Dr Yap prior to his death on a number of matters instigated by AHPRA.

Mr Sekhon said he believed the “unchecked actions of AHPRA and the medical councils contributed greatly to the stress for Dr Yap and his family”, and called for urgent and immediate reform of the regulator’s far-reaching powers.

“I am very concerned about the stress (investigations pose on) other health professionals, the damage to the profession and, ultimately, the public confidence in health care,” he said.

Dr Yen-Yung Yap was a respected obstetrician who operated out of a Glandore clinic. Picture: Supplied

Dr Yen-Yung Yap and Mei-Khing Loo on their wedding day in 2003. Picture: Supplied

Psychologist Rachel Phillips, who led the report into healthcare practitioner suicides, said practitioners found the regulatory process extremely stressful regardless of the seriousness of the complaint.

“There doesn’t seem to be a strong relationship between the severity of a notification and the significance of distress that’s experienced by practitioners,” she said.

“It’s the implications of what a notification means in terms of your practice, and the potential outcomes of not being able to practice. Professional identity is very important and what that means for your livelihood.”

Ms Phillips said the team undertook in-depth case reviews of the healthcare workers who had died between January 2018 and December 2021 and found all either had mental health issues or a history of substance abuse, or both.

“There was no evidence from the case reviews that the approval board processes were the cause of the practitioner deaths,” Ms Phillips said.

“However, there was a consensus for all involved that our processes could be improved to actually better recognise practitioner illness and the signs of vulnerability and how we can actually support them, their partners and their family to ensure the practitioners are really well supported while they undergo a notification.”

The groundbreaking report has prompted an urgent overhaul of the regulator’s complaint process.

“The findings of this research are deeply confronting, but we commissioned it to learn and do better,” AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said.

“We want to clearly understand the pressure points in our processes that cause the greatest distress and change them.”

The regulator said it would speed up its investigations, provide regular updates to healthcare workers and the complainant, help at-risk practitioners access professional help and publish reviews into all serious incidents each year.

Originally published as AHPRA overhaul as shocking report reveals suicide rates of under-investigation practitioners