Vic doctor disqualified over baby deaths
A former Victorian doctor has been reprimanded and disqualified from applying for registration for 12 years over a cluster of potentially avoidable baby deaths.
Dr Surinder Parhar was the director of obstetrics and gynaecology at Bacchus Marsh Hospital between March 2008 and July 2015.
He surrendered his medical registration in October 2015 following a cluster of newborn and stillborn deaths at the hospital and has not practised since.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency investigated 43 registered practitioners who worked at Bacchus Marsh Hospital during the time of the deaths.
Following the investigation, Dr Parhar was referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in January 2019 by the Medical Board of Australia on nine allegations.
Those allegations related to his failure to ensure adequate clinical reviews of 19 deaths, failure to ensure adequate disclosure with patients in 15 perinatal deaths, failure to ensure necessary policies were in place to improve patient safety, inadequate supervision of three junior doctors, failing to improve or maintain his own professional performance, deficient record-keeping and deficient care for one patient.
Dr Parhar admitted each allegation and acknowledged each allegation constituted professional misconduct and the tribunal found all allegations were proven.
"This was a tragic situation," Medical Board chair Anne Tonkin said in a statement on Wednesday.
"While we recognise this decision may be of little comfort for the families who so sadly lost their babies, it highlights the importance of registered medical practitioners, especially those in senior positions, understanding and acting on their responsibilities to ensure safe patient care."
