A former director of Bacchus Marsh Hospital has been disqualified for at least two years after a court found her guilty of misconduct related to a cluster of stillbirths and newborn deaths at the hospital.
The Victorian and Civil and Administrative Tribunal found five charges against formerly registered physiotherapist Elizabeth Wilson true.
In 2015, The Herald Sun revealed that the Djerriwarrh Health Service, which operated a maternity ward at Bacchus Marsh Hospital, was investigating the deaths of 11 babies, seven of which were later found to be preventable.
The former director of clinical and quality support services was found to have committed both professional misconduct and unprofessional conduct during her six years in the senior position, particularly regarding the infant mortality range.
“This result, while not for as long as we think it was warranted, hopefully, supports the healing of those families who have tragically lost babies,” said Kim Gibson, Australia’s chairman of the board of physiotherapy.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, and national councils working with the support of AHPRA, have launched an investigation into 101 cases involving care provided by practitioners at Bacchus Marsh Hospital between 2011 and 2013.
“Health professionals, especially those in leadership roles, have professional responsibility at all levels to ensure the delivery of safe and quality care,” said Ms. Gibson.
“This includes overseeing the safe delivery of care by their employees.”
It was found that Ms. Wilson had failed to effectively investigate and clinically assess perinatal deaths, to provide relevant staff training, incident management policies, and formal reflective practice to identify gaps in skills, knowledge, and competence.
Only the failure to investigate the deaths amounted to professional misconduct, while the remaining allegations amounted to the less serious category of unprofessional conduct.
Camera icon In 2015, the Djerriwarrh Health Service, which operated a maternity ward at Bacchus Marsh Hospital, was investigated over the deaths of 11 babies, seven of which were later found preventable. The Australian Credit: News Corp Australia
“While this outcome offers little comfort to the families affected by the tragic baby deaths in Bacchus Marsh, we hope it helps ensure that babies and families will be safer in the future,” said Martin Fletcher, CEO of AHPRA.
Ms. Wilson has not been registered as a physiotherapist since 2016, and the Physiotherapy Board of Australia wanted a 10-year disqualification from her qualifications.
Although she had agreed to the ten-year disqualification, the tribunal reprimanded Ms. Wilson and settled her with a two-year disqualification.
Ms. Wilson was under immense pressure in her role, according to the testimony of the former consultant director of medical services at Djerriwarrh Health Services, Dr. Lee Gruner, in April.
“I could see she was trying to deal with the workload, and she kept asking for resources and not getting them,” said Dr. grüner.
“I thought, ‘There’s something really strange going on here… that the hospital isn’t willing to give her the resources she needs to fulfill her role.'”
Of the 43 registered health professionals who were subjects of concern, only ten were referred to a panel hearing or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Court.
