Dr Paramalingam Lingathas: Blunder surgeon can still operate despite complaints

A SURGEON at the centre of multiple complaints, ­including one where the “anatomy was mistaken” on the ­operating table, can continue practising.

A SYDNEY surgeon at the centre of multiple complaints from patients and doctors, ­including one where the “anatomy was mistaken” on the ­operating table, has been allowed to continue practising in NSW under strict supervision.

Dr Paramalingam Lingathas was found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct by the Professional Standards Committee and reprimanded “in the strongest possible terms” in a ­decision published this week.

The former Campbelltown Hospital VMO has had several conditions placed on his registration, including compulsory mentoring, and has been ­instructed he can only perform any future “biliary” surgeries under strict supervision.

It follows the suspension of his employment as a general surgeon from the hospital during a 2011 Sydney South West Area Health Service investigation into his performance. He was never reinstated.

At the time, Dr Lingathas was also working at Campbelltown Private Hospital, where The Daily Telegraph understands he continues to practise.

The complaints against him relate to the treatment of 11 ­patients across both hospitals dating back to 2007 in procedures mostly relating to the liver, gall bladder and bile ducts.

They include a range of matters including the inappropriate use of “wire baskets” during surgery, failure to ­remove stones during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, neglecting to recognise post-operative complications, failure to order essential tests and allowing a trainee surgeon to perform a high-risk procedure. In one ­instance, Dr Lingathas was found to have delegated a ­patient’s emergency surgery to a registrar when the patient was at a major risk of suffering serious complications or death.

In giving evidence before the commission, an experienced specialist surgeon said that in one procedure: “It would appear that during the operation the anatomy was mistaken, bile duct was not cleared of stones (possibly because of wrong site) and definitive management was not undertaken.”

In their judgment, the committee ruled that: “His misguided understanding of the appropriate techniques to use in various clinical circumstances resulted in a substantial overuse of laparoscopic procedures for patients who required stone removal from common bile duct.

“His difficulties were complicated by his failure to appreciate that his skills at laparoscopic surgery were limited.

“He also delayed necessary diagnostic testing and failed to recognise, assess and manage post-operative complications.”

As well as in Campbelltown, Dr Lingathas has worked at Royal Prince Alfred, Balmain, Liverpool and Auburn hospitals since migrating from Sri Lanka in 1995.

Through his lawyer, he ­declined to comment on the matter yesterday.

Campbelltown Private Hospital also did not respond to a request to comment.