MP Jan Jarratt challenges Qld Health to reveal all

Whitsunday MP Jan Jarratt has responded to community calls for an explanation as to why Queensland Health’s credentialing committee decided to limit the scope of Dr Paul Joice’s practice in treating acute care and obstetrics patients.

Ms Jarratt challenged Queensland Health to make the details of the committee’s ruling public, saying this matter had become an issue of public interest following extensive local media coverage.

“I believe locals deserve to know the truth, the whole truth, so that there is no longer a question mark hanging over this issue,” Ms Jarratt said.

“I have received many calls from concerned locals wanting to know why Queensland Health made its decision to limit the scope of Dr Joice’s medical practice.

“I wrote to the Director General of Queensland Health asking that Dr Joice be afforded all avenues of natural justice and I have been assured that there is now nothing stopping Dr Joice from treating his patients in hospital.

“However, to be frank, the advice I received provides no clarity as to how or why this decision was made in the first place and it concerns me that neither Queensland Health or Dr Joice have been willing to make these details public.”

Ms Jarratt said she knows Dr Joice personally and has the upmost respect for his dedication as a local medical professional.

“Dr Joice came to me with concerns regarding the credentialing process and I pursued this matter on his behalf – as I would for any constituent,” Ms Jarratt said.

“Dr Joice is entitled to request a review of the Queensland Health credentialing committee’s decision. Equally, I believe this community is entitled to know why this decision was made.

“Where public health and safety are concerned my priority is for truth and accuracy so that locals can make an informed decision for themselves.

“If Queensland Health is unable to make this information publicly available due to issues of privacy, then I hope Dr Joice will grant the organisation permission to release the details of its decision.

Dr Paul Joice who wants to wholeheartedly thank his patients and community members for standing by him and his wife, said he was pleased that Ms Jarratt recognised the gravity of the situation.

“I am pleased she has seen what impact this has had not only on my family and my patients but the whole community. I am grateful that she has gone out of her way to ensure there is some fairness in the whole situation.

“However I will not be giving Queensland Health permission to release details.

Mackay Health Service District Chief Executive Officer Kerry McGovern said the health service was aware of MsJarratt’s request to make public the material the credentialing committee relied upon to make its decision to limit Dr Joice’s Scope of Practice.

“Due to the confidential nature of this information, Dr Joice’s consent is required before this can happen.

“The District has written to Dr Joice seeking his permission to release, to the media, minutes from the committee meetings and other documents the committee considered, which may include information about reported clinical incidents or near misses.

“Once the District receives written permission from Dr Joice, these documents will be released," Mr McGovern said.

Queensland Health Minister Geoff Wilson said like pilots who are required to maintain flight hours, doctors who want the right to deliver babies in public hospitals needed to demonstrate they continued to maintain their skills.

“It is a matter of public safety,” Mr Wilson said.

“I am advised that Dr Joice failed to satisfy the local credentialing Committee made up of 10 of his clinically trained peers. Their decision was independently reviewed and confirmed by the Director of Rural Health. 

“The Committee has provided written reasons to Dr Joice, and explained to him the standard process for getting the decision reviewed.  He has not taken up that offer. 

“The Committee stands ready, willing and able to consider any paperwork Dr Joice wishes to provide.

“I am further advised the Mackay Health Service District is able to release the minutes of the credentialing committee along with notes of any complaints, clinical incidents, and near misses recorded in relation to Dr Joice if Dr Joice provides his written authority for that to happen. 

“But the best course of action would be for Dr Joice to follow the process that every other doctor in Queensland is required to follow:  if he has concerns, he should file the paperwork for a review by his peers.”

Whitsunday doctor fights for unsupervised visits to hospital

Queensland Health is refusing to back down on a decision to deny a Proserpine doctor unsupervised access to his patients in the Proserpine Hospital.

Dr Paul Joice who has been practising in Proserpine for more than 33 years was banned from treating acute patients in the government-run institution after a credentialing committee found the doctor’s application for credentialing failed to satisfy the “independent clinical experts” on the committee.

Committee chairman Dr Max Mansoor said while the onus was now on Dr Joice to demonstrate he was able to safely practise in the fields of obstetrics and acute care, “the department would not be taking a backward step on the safety of patients just because an individual wishes to run a misleading, unfounded media campaign”.

Dr Paul Joice, who treats 200 patients from his Main St surgery every week, said he was tired of being harassed and was considering making the heart-breaking decision of shutting the practice down.

“These are intimidatory, stand over tactics by an authority - that cannot get is own act together – under the guise of protecting the public. God help us, someone should protect the public from Queensland Health,” said Dr Joice yesterday.

Dr Joice said under no circumstance would he be taking up the offer from the health department to treat his hospital patients “under supervision”.

“I trained half these doctors. It’s a character assassination and as I have said last week and I will say again I want an independent assessment of what has happened here,” he said.

“They have offered me no explanation as to why they consider me incompetent and I take offence to the association between myself and Dr Patel,” he said.

Dr Joice said at the end of the day, he was beginning to feel he no longer had an option.

“Yes I am considering walking away. I can get a job in a place like Port Headland … where I can work without being harassed. A place they actually appreciate doctors, because this is a denigration of my character on some pretext where I am not even party to the reasons,” he said.

The story on last week’s front page drew a massive response from readers with countless texts to the editor – some appearing on the opinion pages.

One such letter was from long time patient Dell Linneweber who met the doctor when he first arrived in town 33 years ago.

“Dr Joice delivered my baby Lloyd in 1979 just after he had come here,” Ms Linneweber said.

“I had a daughter with heart complaints, he assisted with her throughout her whole life. For 33 years I have put my faith in Dr Joice and I am not about to second guess that now!.”

Ms Linneweber’s granddaughter Connie was born on January 24 one of the last days the doctor was allowed into the hospital unsupervised.

“Now Dr Joice was allowed to go up and see her on the Friday but all hell would have broken loose if my daughter-in-law Rhea hadn’t have had him as a doctor. It’s a personal sort of thing,” she said.

“Now I know Dr Joice isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but if you like him – the choice should be yours.”

But the doctor from the Mackay committee maintains that a second opinion was also sought from the director of rural and remote health which upheld the findings.

“However, the committee has invited Dr Joice to provide further information and has indicated it will reconsider his application on February 14. It will be open to Dr Joice to provide the required information to the Committee and satisfy the experts on the Committee that it is safe to allow him to practise unsupervised,” Dr Mansoor said.