Queensland health in bother again over employment of a foreign doctor

Queensland health are in a spot of bother yet again over the employment of a foreign born doctor.

This time the debacle involves an Egyptian-trained doctor who was appointed to Mackay Base hospital in 2004 even though his performance at hospitals in both Townsville and country Victoria had been a cause for concern.

According to the Health Quality and Complaints Commission (HQCC) there were concerns about Dr. Abdalla Khalifalla's competence before he joined the Mackay Base hospital in 2004, but the information was not passed on.

The report found there were significant deficiencies in the management of Dr. Khalafallah's clinical competence at Mackay Base Hospital and he was allowed to perform major surgery beyond his credentialed scope of practice.

The HQCC report says though the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons had been notified about concerns regarding Dr Khalafallah's competence in the years before he was employed for work in Mackay, it failed to alert relevant health authorities.

Commissioner Michael Ward says his poor performance had continued after his appointment, resulting in an unacceptable level of patient care.

Dr Khalafallah had his contract terminated in August 2006 after the Medical Board of Queensland de registered him but this only came about following concerns about him were raised in Federal Parliament.

The HQCC report says there was an inadequate exchange of information between the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the Medical Board of Queensland, and Queensland Health about Dr. Khalifalla's past and ongoing competence.

The two-year investigation by the HQCC has led to calls for an Australia-wide reporting system for tracking the performance of registered health professionals.