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Thursday, 20 June, 2024
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Nostalgic goodbye for U3A Cranbourne U3A will soon leave their home for the past two decades. It is an emotional farewell, but a fresh start awaits as they move to the kindergarten building at 20 - 22 Bowen Street. The new rooms will be in use from the commencement of Term 3. The relocation was followed by the planned future closure of the Casey Administration Building, which had been assessed as an “end-of-life” asset by the Casey Council. Story page 8 Cranbourne U3A secretary Sue Morris (left) and president Helen Bell (right) will soon wave goodbye to the old site in Casey Administration Building. 413954 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
‘Direct care’ only By Violet Li Hampton Park Women’s Health Clinic director Dr Michelle Kenney has been granted a stay with conditions on her recent suspension, the state tribunal heard. The conditions stipulate that she may only practise medicine in roles providing direct clinical care to patients, and must not practise in any role and/or position which includes responsibility for clinical governance, or management or supervision of other health practitioners or students. Dr Kenney was suspended as a medical practitioner on 17 May by the Medical Board of Australia. According to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), the board took immediate action after noting that the Department of Health suspended the clinic’s registra-
tion as a day procedure centre on 29 February following two days of inspection. The Department of Health stated that the clinic’s day procedure service was operating in a way that posed serious risks to patient health or safety and the clinic had also failed to comply with the relevant regulations. The clinic was found to fail to assess the credentials of medical practitioners appropriately. The anesthetist Dr Tony Chow, apparently hired by others when Dr Kenney was away the VCAT report said - had a condition on his registration that only allowed him to practise at Knox Hospital. Other non-compliance included infection control, failure to ensure adequate training of staff involved in surgery and anesthesia and inadequate review of events. VCAT noted that before the suspension of
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the clinic, Dr Kenney had contacted the Department of Health in November 2023 to report the compliance issues she discovered on her return from health and personal reasons. It appeared she had begun to take steps to address issues, but the department’s inspection recorded some issues had not been rectified, VCAT documents said. The board reasoned that Dr Kenney, as the medical director, was responsible for the noncompliance and had put patients and employees at serious risk. It warranted the suspension, the VCAT report said, with the board believing that “her lack of insight into how serious the failings were, reflect on her capacity to practise medicine generally, and put all her patients at risk”. Dr Kenney contended that there was little evidence she was not a safe general practitioner and the board failed to make a distinction
between any risk she might have posed as a director and the risk if she would continue as a general practitioner. The state tribunal did not find Dr Kenney would pose a serious risk to the safety of patients in the medical practice. As public safety was the priority in the decision about a stay, the tribunal considered that the public would be sufficiently protected from any risk posed by Dr Kenney as the Department of Health had already suspended the clinic’s day surgery services and the condition on the stay would prohibit her from governing the clinic. The tribunal also considered the evidence that refusing the stay would potentially harm Dr Kenney personally and the continued operation of the clinic as a general practice.
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