Sandy Bay doctor to face tribunal on professional misconduct claims

A Calvary Hospital spine surgery doctor and Sandy Bay GP has been accused of professional misconduct dating back to the 1990s. LATEST >>

Calvary Lenah Valley Hospital. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

A SANDY Bay GP and Calvary Hospital neurosurgery assistant will soon face a medical tribunal over allegations of historical misconduct dating back to the 1990s.

The Medical Board of Australia conducted an investigation into Paul David Thompson, a Churchill Avenue Medical Centre GP and a surgical assistant at the Tasmanian Spine Service.

Dr Paul Thompson. Picture: CHURCHILL AVENUE MEDICAL CENTRE

In March this year, the board referred the case to the Tasmanian Health Practitioners Tribunal over concerns Dr Thompson had engaged in professional misconduct between November 1996 and March 1997.

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Details of the allegations have not yet been made available.

However, according to his LinkedIn profile, during the time in question, Dr Thompson worked at both the Tasmanian Spine Service and the Magnet Court Medical Centre, leaving the latter position in January 2000.

However, a stoush over jurisdiction in the case arose because the alleged professional misconduct occurred before the current board was established in 2010, while the investigation and decision to refer the matter occurred after 2015, when relevant legislation had expired.

In a hearing in Hobart during May, Dr Thompson argued it was a “statutory fiction” that was being treated as though he was registered under the relevant legislation, whereas in fact the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter.

However, the tribunal said the purpose of the relevant laws were to protect the public and that Dr Thompson had been registered under corresponding prior legislation.

In her recently-published decision, tribunal chairperson Alison Clue said Parliament didn’t intend to provide an “amnesty” when making the legislative changes in 2010, and the laws “should not be interpreted in such a way for it to strike at the achievement of the obvious purposes”.

She determined the board had the power to initiate an investigation and refer Dr Thompson to the tribunal, and that the tribunal had the power to hear and make findings into the case.

The matter has not yet been listed for hearing.