By Violet Li
Services at a women’s health clinic in Hampton Park were partially closed in 2024 following a Casey woman’s death after an abortion surgery.
Narre Warren South woman and mother of two Harjit Kaur died shortly after a pregnancy termination surgery in Hampton Park Women’s Health Clinic in January 2024.
Victoria Police confirmed in March that there would be no criminal investigation.
A coroner investigation into Miss Kaur’s death is still ongoing. An initial autopsy revealed in June 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”.
The family was devastated by the tragedy.
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, according to a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) report later that year.
The anesthetist Dr Tony Chow, apparently hired by others when the director Dr Michelle Kenney was away, had a condition on his registration that only allowed him to practise at Knox Hospital, the report said.
Other non-compliance included infection control, failure to ensure adequate training of staff involved in surgery and anesthesia and inadequate review of events, the report said.
On 15 March, the Medical Board of Australia suspended the registration of obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Rudolph Lopes, who performed the abortion surgery on Miss Kaur.
The reason behind the suspension has not been revealed.
The controversy over Dr Lopes centred on his prior professional misconduct. He was reprimanded over alleged lewd remarks to a patient and long-term sexual harassment of a midwife, according to a court judgment in 2021.
In early 2024, director Dr Kenney defended Dr Lopes and claimed that regardless of his history, he was still a highly experienced registered specialist.
Later in May, Dr Kenney was also suspended. In June, she was granted a stay with conditions by the court.
The court noted that before the suspension of the day procedure in 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, the court documents said.
The court did not find Dr Kenney would pose a serious risk to the safety of patients in the medical practice and considered the evidence that refusing the stay would potentially harm Dr Kenney personally and the continued operation of the clinic as a general practice.
Due to media interest, the court stated that Dr Kenney was not involved clinically with Miss Kaur’s death.
The board confirmed that it did not suggest there was a link between Miss Kaur’s death and Dr Kenney’s suspension.
*Star News is not suggesting Dr Michelle Kenney, Dr Rudolph Lopes, or any other doctor or staff member at the clinic are responsible for the death of Ms Kaur. A coroner’s investigation is underway into the cause.
