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 registration 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 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 non-compliance 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.
Dr Kenney is the only general practitioner at the clinic. There was sufficient evidence that the clinic serves an area of need and carries importance to women across metropolitan Melbourne, the VCAT report noted.
A final review hearing will take place in three to six months.
Due to media interest, the tribunal stated that Dr Kenney was not involved clinically with Narre Warren South woman Harjit Kaur who died after a pregnancy termination surgery in the clinic on 12 January.
The board confirmed that it did not suggest there was a link between Miss Kaur’s death and Dr Kenney’s suspension.
A coroner investigation into Miss Kaur’s death is still ongoing.
The tribunal heard that the initial autopsy found “no significant natural disease contributing to the death, no evidence of any complication after surgery, and ruled out adverse effects of anesthesia, infection, and other conditions or reactions”.
The pathologist raised the “possibility of a heart rhythm abnormality”.
