Regional GP found guilty of professional misconduct | 22 Mar 2013

A NSW GP anaesthetist who admitted to a range of failures relating to infection control measures at a regional clinic has been found guilty of both unsatisfactory conduct and professional misconduct.

The Medical Tribunal of NSW heard that during May 2010, a number of patients who attended the clinic in Warrawong – near Wollongong – for gastroscopy procedures developed symptoms associated with sepsis and required admission to hospital following their discharge from the clinic.

The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) alleged Dr Peter Sau Onn Chang committed breaches of infection control standards including failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene and the routine sharing of ampoules of two Schedule B drugs – pethidine and fentanyl – between patients.

The HCCC complaint – upheld by the tribunal – also detailed the GP’s failure to ensure equipment was used exclusively, failure to ensure he had access to resuscitation equipment, his unsecure storage of drugs of addiction and the keeping of inadequate patient records.

As well as reprimanding Dr Chang, the tribunal placed conditions on his registration including that he not administer any anaesthetics including intravenous or intramuscular sedation for non-analgesic purposes.