Agenda

Conference Day One: Monday 22nd March 2010

8.30 Registration and Coffee

9.00 Opening Remarks from the Chair
Bill Madden, National Practice Group Leader - Medical Law, Slater & Gordon, Lawyers

9.10 National Registration-National Significance

National registration commences July next year. There will be substantive changes in all states and how complaints against health practitioners are handled and disciplinary proceedings are brought. This presentation will look at the legislative framework and the impact of these changes from a medico-legal perspective upon your organisation.

Andrew Forbes, Partner, DLA Phillips Fox

9.50 Mandatory Reporting

• How will it work?
• How will it be measured?
• How will it be enforced?
• Where will we be after five years of mandatory reporting?
• What are the things that we expect wont happen as a result of mandatory reporting?

Michael Gorton (AM), Principal, Russell Kennedy & Board Member of the Agency Management Committee of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

10.30 Morning Tea

11.00 Case Study: Credentialling of Doctors - Panacea, Flawed Solution or a Real Step Forward?

• Clinical Engagement is critical to high performance healthcare organisations
• Credentialling and scope of practice processes enhances engagement
• Credentialling and scope of practice can be standardised in the context of the credentialling cycle
• Understanding and supporting doctor performance is crucial
• The Victorian experience

Dr Grant Phelps, Clinical Lead, Clinical Engagement Program, Department of Health Victoria

REVIEW OF RECENT CASES

11.40 Medical Negligence Update: A Review of Recent Cases

This presentation will take a look at recent cases relevant to medical negligence including:

• Hunter and New England AHS v A [2009] - Refusal of medical treatment
• Brightwater Care Group (Inc) v Rossiter [2009] - Refusal of medical treatment
• Baker-Morrison v NSW [2009] - Limitation period
• Amaca Pty Ltd v Novek [2009] - Gratuitous domestic services
• SSWAHS v Stamoulis [2009] - Loss of chance
• A snapshot of other recent cases where medical negligence claimed
  

Brit Mainhoff, Special Counsel, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers

12.20 Lunch & Networking Opportunity

1.30 Loss of Chance in Medical Negligence - This presentation will take a look at recent medical negligence cases including:

• Approaches overseas
• The arguments in Australia
• Chances, emotions or antidotes?

Bill Madden, National Practice Group Leader - Medical Law, Slater & Gordon, Lawyers
Julia Lonergan, Barrister, 12th floor Chambers

THE MEDICO-LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN A SHARED CARE MODEL

2.10 Keynote Address: The Medico-Legal Implications of Home Based Hospital Care and Shared Care Programs and Arrangements - Where Does the Responsibility Begin and End?

• The governance issues
• Liability issues
• What are the contentious issues
• Clinical responsibility in a 'shared care' model
• The chain of responsibility

Alison Biscoe, National Director, Avant Law
Dr Penny Browne, Medical Advisor, Avant & Director of the Hornsby - Brooklyn GP Unit, Hornsby Hospital & Clinical Lecturer, Sydney University

2.50 Afternoon Tea


3.20 Home Based Hospital Care Hypothetical Scenario Presentation:

Providing acute and peri-acute care in the homes of patients requires the extension of medical governance of GPs and Allied Health professionals in the delivery of such services. This hypothetical scenario based presentation will identify the risks associated with the inter-play of professional services, gaps in insurance for liability and moral/ethical issues arising. Here is an example of the hypothetical scenarios that will be addressed in this presentation;

• Patient receiving home based hospital care for severe back pain. Cannot raise hospital contact person by telephone. Rings his general practitioner who gives him incorrect advice over the telephone about ongoing care. GP prescribes incorrect medication based on her lack of detailed clinical information. Patient's son fills the prescription and patient takes that medication but does not tell hospital staff he has done so when they review him. They then administer an incompatible pain relief medication leading to major complications for the patient. Patient sues GP and hospital and the visiting hospital doctor and nurse personally.
  

Alison Biscoe, National Director, Avant Law
Dr Penny Browne, Medical Advisor, Avant & Director of the Hornsby - Brooklyn GP Unit, Hornsby Hospital & Clinical Lecturer, Sydney Universit


4.00 Scope of Practice

• Under what circumstances can scope of practice be restricted based on issues relating to clinical and/or procedural performance?
• How the principles of natural justice need to be applied throughout the credentialling process
• Real cases where restrictions on scope of practice have occurred and the impact that such restrictions have had on the practitioner and his/her patients

Mr Andrew Took, National Manager - Medico-Legal Advisory Services, Avant Law Pty Ltd

4.40 Closing Remarks from the Chair

4.50 Networking Drinks

Conference Day Two: Tuesday 23rd March 2010

8.30 Registration & Coffee

9.00 Opening Remarks from the Chair
Dominique Saunders, Senior Legal Adviser, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO PRESENTATION

2.40 Treading Cautiously in Obstetrics: Patient Safety & Risk Management Considerations from a Practical Clinical Perspective & Medico-Legal Perspective

Part One*
Dr Paul Devenish-Meares, Senior Staff Obstetrician, & Chief Medical Information Officer, Mater Health Services

3.20 Treading Cautiously in Obstetrics: Patient Safety & Risk Management Considerations from a Practical Clinical Perspective & Medico-Legal Perspective

Part Two*
Melissa Meldrum, Legal Counsel-Clinical Safety & Quality Unit, Mater Health Services

*Hypothetical presentation not previously presented in the same form

10.30 Morning Tea

11.00 The Changing Face of Abortion Law in Australia: What are the Legal Risks for Doctors and Patients?

• The Leach prosecution in Queensland and what it means for doctors
• Recent amendments to the law in Victoria and Queensland
• When and where can abortions be lawfully performed?
• And by whom?
• Medical v. surgical abortions
  
  

Julie Hamblin, Partner, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers

11.40 How to Prevent and Manage Patient Complaints - The presentation will address the following areas:

• Why do patients complain?
• Understanding what people complain about
• How to address and resolve complaints early on?
• What to expect when a complaint is lodged with the Health Care Complaints Commission?
• Using complaints to improve quality and safety
  
  

A Representative from the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission

12.20 Lunch & Networking Opportunity

1.30 Privacy -The Impossible Dream

• Managing medical records within litigation
• How the Privacy Act (Cth) impacts on trial preparation
• Privacy risks & problems associated with e-health
  
  

Sue Taylor, Special Counsel, Minter Ellison Lawyers

2.10 Afternoon Tea

2.40 Quality Improvement in Health and Coronial Law

• One death two investigation pathways
• The legal status of coronial recommendations in health
• The quality protection status of hospital based mortality reviews in law
• Sharing information
• Case study: The WA Health Coronial Liaison Unit

Tom Hitchcock MBBS MForensMed FACLM FFAEM FACEM, A/Co-Director, Emergency Medicine, Fremantle Hospital & Senior Clinical Adviser, Office of  Safety and Quality in Healthcare, Health Dept of WA

3.20 Mortality Review Under Qualified Privilege

• Why would qualified privilege be needed in cases involving mortality?
• Is it the only way of getting at the real facts of a death that may have been due to medical negligence?
• The extent to which qualified privilege is an issue in relation to uncovering the truth behind systemic surgical mortality trends
  
  

Dominique Saunders, Senior Legal Adviser, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

4.00 Chairs Closing Comments

4.10 Conference Close